Japan’s Emperor Performs First Harvest Rites

The harvest rite marks the last of a series of rituals that a new emperor must perform. (Flickr)

Japanese Emperor Naruhito performed the Daijosai, a centuries-old Shinto ritual, starting on the evening of November 14, according to Kyodo News. The secretive tradition that occurs once in an emperor’s reign involves giving thanks for a good harvest and prayers for national peace and prosperity. The ritual was the last of a series of traditions that the emperor has performed since his enthronement in May, though the Jiji Press stresses that this ritual is the most important. Historians say harvest rites stem from Japan’s rice-growing culture around the 7th century.

Daijosai also marks the emperor’s first communion with the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu, from whom the imperial family claims descent, Associated Press says. Officials say that the ritual involves the emperor communing with Amaterasu and other deities in an enormous palace complex constructed specifically for the ritual. After the Daijosai ended early on November 14, 30 buildings on a 6,500 square-meter area of Imperial Palace lands were removed.

Secluded from the public, the emperor and two maidservants entered an inner sanctum and placed salmon, rice, chestnuts, and more as food offerings for the sun goddess, spreading the food over 30 oak leaves. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Empress Masako, and more than 500 other governmental individuals witnessed the first part of the ritual, emphasizing the national significance of the event.

However, not everyone is content with the old and royal tradition. Some criticized the ceremony’s connections to Japan’s authoritarian past due to its emphasis on the royal family.

The cost of the short, two-part ritual and the taxpayer revenue used to pay for it drew about 150 people to a rally nearby to protest what they called “wrong” use of tax money. A participant stresses that “[t]here are so many people affected by [recent] typhoons... we’re only halfway done rebuilding.”

According to Associated Press, the whole ritual cost ¥2.7 billion ($25 million), of which the main shrine complex itself cost ¥2 billion ($18 million).

The scope of the ritual was expanded prior to World War II, when government officials attempted to bolster the image of the emperor as a symbol and status for “Japanese aggression.” Even after the end of WWII, the level of government funding spent on the Daijosai has remained the same.

Japanese citizens criticized this fact when more than 200 people filed a lawsuit last year against what they saw as a severe violation of separation of church and state.

Government officials had objected by pointing to the emperor’s constitutional obligation to successfully perform all his enthronement-related rituals, even when the emperor’s own younger brother, Crown Prince Akishino, said, “It’s a royal family event, and it is highly religious... I think the Daijosai should be held ... by making it an affordable ceremony.”