稲田朋美の化けの皮が剥がれてきた
稲田朋美がどうも変だ。 8月15日の「全国戦没者追悼式」も「靖国参拝」もすっぽかして、アフリカ東部ジブチを訪問したことを、9月30日の衆院予算委員会で、辻元清美に追及されて泣いていた。
もちろん「靖国参拝」から逃げるためのジブチ訪問だったからだ。
そのときの飛行機に搭乗する直前の稲田の様子がネットで見れるが、ジブチは安全だから、バカンス気分で、ニッコニコしながら、奇妙なオタク・ファッションで、出掛けているのだ。「靖国参拝」を回避できるのがそんなに嬉しかったのだろうか？
ついでに言っておくが、辻元清美は夏のお盆の時期を「全国戦没者追悼式」に参列するか、年老いた両親を連れて、父方の祖父が眠る戦没者の墓へ墓参するかの、どちらかで過ごしているという。
辻元はサヨクで、稲田はホシュなどという区分で人を見てはいけないということの証明のようなものだ。Read More →
Japan’s emperor wants to retire. Is he allowed to?
By Anna Fifield August 6 NYT
TOKYO — For 28 years, Emperor Akihito has been a steady and reassuring presence in Japan, a fact that many people here are reminded of on a daily basis. After all, 2016 is officially known as “Heisei 28,” marking Akihito’s time on the Chrysanthemum Throne.
But now, the 82-year-old “emperor for life” is laying the groundwork to relinquish his role and pass it on to his oldest son, Naruhito. That will be tricky. Not only is there no legal provision for him to abdicate, but even raising the prospect could be unconstitutional.
“Under the current law, he can’t abdicate, even if he wants to. There is no option but to carry on,” said Yasushi Kuno, a veteran journalist who for years covered the imperial family for the Nippon television network.
Akihito is scheduled to make a pre-recorded video statement to the Japanese people Monday afternoon, during which he probably will say that he is having difficulty carrying out his official duties.
He has had health issues — prostate cancer and heart problems — and, marking his birthday in December, he said there had been times when he had felt his age.
“Even if he tries really hard, he can’t deny that his body is deteriorating,” which means he can no longer carry out all his official duties, Kuno said.
[Sporting silver heels, Michelle Obama greets Japanese emperor]
Surviving through samurais and shoguns and wars, an unbroken male line of emperors has endured in Japan for almost 3,000 years. They are said to be direct descendants of Amaterasu, the Shinto goddess of the sun.
Abdication was relatively common until 1817, when Kokaku became the last emperor to resign his post.
But the imperial system underwent a huge upheaval at the end of World War II, when the U.S. occupying forces allowed Hirohito, the current emperor’s father, to remain in his position but stripped him of his powers.
The emperor was reduced to being a ceremonial figurehead who would serve as a “symbol of the state and of the unity of the people,” according to the U.S.-written constitution. As such, he does “not have powers related to government,” meaning that he cannot say anything even remotely political.
That will cause some issues for Akihito, the only emperor to have begun his reign under the postwar constitution. Because there is no provision in the Imperial House Law for him to abdicate, even raising the idea would be considered political because it would require a parliamentary amendment.
“So he will be ambiguous, unclear,” said Takeshi Hara, a professor of politics who has written several books on the imperial system. “I think he will just express his feelings.”
[With WWII statement, Japan’s Abe tried to offer something for everyone]
Signs of the emperor’s wish to step down emerged last month when NHK, the public broadcaster, which has close ties to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government, reported that it was under discussion.
The public has been supportive of the idea, with polls showing that between 77 percent and 90 percent of respondents say the government should create a system to allow the emperor to abdicate.
“If he feels old and tired, it’s okay for him to retire,” said Yukiko Sakurai, one of a group of four gray-haired women sitting in a Tokyo cafe last week. “He’s old. Maybe they should set an age limit on being emperor?”
Hirohito died at age 87; Akihito was 55 when he succeeded his father. His oldest son, Naruhito, is 56.
The Japanese public has warm feelings toward the current emperor. His father was considered to be “above the clouds,” so revered that Japanese people weren’t even allowed to look straight at him during the war.
“But the current emperor has a different style and talks directly to the people,” said Kuno, the journalist. This was particularly evident after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, when Akihito for the first time recorded a video message to the Japanese people, and then visited the disaster zone.
Any legal changes will take time, probably years, to usher through. But in the meantime, the emperor’s intentions probably will create headaches for Abe, whose top — and controversial — priority is revising the constitution to loosen the pacifism imposed on Japan after the war.
Abe’s government last month succeeded in winning the two-thirds majorityneeded in the upper house to try to make changes to the constitution.
[Japan’s emperor appears to part ways with Abe on pacifism debate]
The emperor has obliquely signaled that he disagrees with attempts to revise the constitution and has made efforts to atone for Japan’s wartime brutality.
“I hear the emperor feels a sense of crisis over the current political situation,” said Jiro Yamaguchi, a political scientist at Hosei University. “Abe’s position on constitutional revision is completely different from the emperor’s position of protecting the constitution.”
Akihito’s coming statement, he said, could trigger a drive among the public to keep the constitution as it is.
Talk of legal changes could put the brakes on efforts to revise the constitution, said Mari Miura, a political scientist at Sophia University. But it also could inject momentum into the efforts. “This could give a push to those on the revision side if all the changes could be reviewed together,” she said.
Abe has other reasons to be resistant to change in the royal status. He lobbied against efforts a decade ago, when the emperor had only granddaughters, to allow women to inherit the title.
Thorny legal questions aside, there are lots of logistical considerations, much like the Vatican had to grapple with when Pope Benedict XVI wanted to step aside. Where would Akihito live? What would he be called? “Retired emperor?”
Yuki Oda contributed to this report.
At 82, Emperor Akihito of Japan Wants to Retire. Will Japan Let Him?
By JONATHAN SOBLEAUG. 7, 2016 Washington Post
TOKYO — The Japanese have acknowledged that their emperor is not a god and he has been stripped of all political power, but the nation still views its monarch as so central to the sense of identity that he is not permitted to resign.
Now, Emperor Akihito is suggesting that his people let him retire.
He is 82 years old. He has had cancer. He has had surgery.
So, in a uniquely Japanese moment on Monday, he went on television to hint at his desire for Parliament to change the law so he can give the job to his son.
But it is freighted. The emperor represents a postwar Japan that is committed to pacifism. The current government wants to loosen the reins on the military, and the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is politically powerful. If Emperor Akihito steps down, will Japan lose a check on the government’s drive to rewrite the past, to discard its lessons and taboos?
Will his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, also a pacifist, have the standing of his father?
Japan is a constitutional monarchy. It is a liberal democracy. It is, in many ways, a deeply conservative country that clings to tradition. Its monarchy — the Chrysanthemum Throne — is the oldest in the world, stretching back to antiquity. Emperor Akihito’s family has held it almost 2,700 years, according to the customary, if semi-legendary genealogy. If he resigns, it would be the biggest transformation of the monarchy since World War II.
Change does not come easily in Japan, and now the government faces a conundrum: It will be criticized if it allows the transition, or blocks it.
Crown Prince Naruhito, 56, shares his father’s quiet demeanor and, by all accounts, his commitment to keeping the monarchy apolitical. The prince has repeatedly commended the pacifist Constitution, written by the American occupiers in 1947.
It is a delicate moment. If the government amends the law governing imperial succession in Parliament, concern may grow about its influence over the imperial household, analysts said.
“People both on the right and left would be cautious about making sure this process doesn’t weaken the institution and therefore open up the succession to political influence,” said Sheila A. Smith, a Japan expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.
But dragging its feet on the emperor’s wishes would anger many Japanese.
“This is an aging country, and there are going to be a lot of people sympathetic to the emperor’s wanting a comfortable retirement,” said Tobias Harris of Teneo Intelligence, a political risk consulting firm.
Opinion surveys conducted by the Japanese news media suggest that the public overwhelmingly supports Emperor Akihito’s wishes to step down. As many as 85 percent of respondents say they favor amending the Imperial Household Law to allow it.
“We speak respectfully about the emperor, but arguably we use him like a slave,” said Daisuke Kodaka, 34, an employee at a cosmetics company in Tokyo. “He’s our symbol, but as a person he doesn’t have human rights. We should recognize his rights.”
Amending the law could also revive a contentious issue: the debate over allowing a woman to be the monarch. Only men can inherit the throne, a provision that is increasingly in dispute. A decade ago, during a debate about whether the law should be changed to open the way for female monarchs, conservatives in Mr. Abe’s right-leaning Liberal Democratic Party were firmly opposed.
Prince Naruhito has a daughter, and his younger brother has two daughters and a son, Prince Hisahito, the only male in the youngest royal generation. Prince Hisahito’s birth, in 2006, quieted the debate about female monarchs, at least for the time being. But with so few males in the family, experts say the succession is far from secure for the future.
Mr. Abe’s government has embraced the idea of female empowerment in other areas, notably the workplace, but few think it is ready to extend the concept to the monarchy.
In his first radio broadcast, Emperor Hirohito, the father of the current emperor,announced that Japan had been defeated in World War II. Many Japanese bowed or kneeled as they heard the monarch’s voice for the first time.
An earthquake and tsunami devastated the northeast coast of Japan in 2011, causing the world’s second-worst nuclear disaster after Chernobyl. Emperor Akihito took the unprecedented step of trying to reassure the nation in a televised address.
“This opens other cans of worms,” said Kenneth Ruoff, the director of the Center for Japanese Studies at Portland State University and the author of “The People’s Emperor,” a history of the postwar Japanese monarchy.
Though his words were characteristically vague — he discussed his age, his rigorous daily schedule and what he called his increasing physical limitations — the message was unmistakable.
“When I consider that my fitness level is gradually declining, I am worried that it may become difficult for me to carry out my duties as the symbol of the state with my whole being as I have done until now,” Emperor Akihito said in a prerecorded address that lasted about 10 minutes and was broadcast on Japanese television networks.
Mr. Abe, in a short response, suggested that his government was open to changing the law, though he stopped short of making a specific commitment to do so. “Considering His Majesty’s age, the burden of his official duties and his anxieties, we must think carefully about what can be done,” Mr. Abe said.
Japanese emperors define eras in the country. Its unique calendar is based on their reigns: 2016 is expressed as Emperor Akihito’s 28th year on the throne, and when his successor takes over, the date will reset to Year One.
Emperor Akihito’s father, Hirohito, died in 1989 — Year 64 of his reign — as both the Cold War and Japan’s economic boom years were drawing to a close, intensifying the sense of a historical shift.
After World War II, Hirohito stunned his subjects by declaring thathe was not a god, overturning decades of government propaganda and centuries of loosely held tradition. The new Constitution relegated the monarchy to a purely ceremonial role.
“Historically, it was extremely common for emperors to abdicate,” said Takeshi Hara, an authority on the imperial family at the Open University of Japan. More than half of Japan’s monarchs have vacated the throne, often for quiet retirement at Buddhist monasteries. Only in the 19th century, when Japan’s leaders created the cult of emperor worship, did stepping down become impossible.
Emperor Akihito maintains an often punishing schedule, despite treatment for prostate cancer in 2003and heart surgery in 2012. He and his wife, Empress Michiko — the first commoner to marry into the imperial family — have become consolers in chief for victims of natural disasters, like theearthquake and tsunamithat devastated parts of northern Japan in 2011.
In his address, Emperor Akihito referred several times to the postwar Constitution and the symbolic nature of the modern monarchy. He said he wanted to secure that monarchy for the future “in the midst of a rapidly aging society” and “in a nation and in a world which are constantly changing.”
Though he did not use the word “abdication,” he made specific arguments for allowing it. Under existing law, the crown prince could serve as regent if his father became too ill, standing in for the emperor in all but name. But Emperor Akihito indicated he did not wish to be a monarch who “continues to be the emperor till the end of his life, even though he is unable to fully carry out his duties.”
He alluded to the last imperial transition nearly three decades ago. His father had intestinal cancer during the final years of his life, and his slow, painful decline was a focus of intense attention from the public and the news media.
Emperor Akihito said he wanted to avoid a situation in which “society comes to a standstill” before his death, and the elaborate funeral rites distract from the enthronement of his heir.
Prince Naruhito “represents continuity” with Emperor Akihito in terms of personality and priorities, Professor Ruoff said. As his father did, he has taken up social causes, notably access to clean water in poor countries.
Professor Ruoff said Emperor Akihito’s biggest achievement had been to focus attention on social welfare causes. When Japan hosted the Summer Olympics in 1964, Emperor Akihito became the patron of the then-obscure Paralympics. At the time, people with disabilities were often shunned and stigmatized in Japan.
“Akihito and Michiko have spent a tremendous amount of time leveraging their prestige on behalf of the least privileged members of Japanese society,” Professor Ruoff said. “I wouldn’t go so far as to say they are the conscience of the nation, but they do draw attention to these issues.”
Follow Jonathan Soble on Twitter @jonathan_soble.
Makiko Inoue, Hisako Ueno and Becky Zhuang contributed reporting from Tokyo, and Motoko Rich from New York.
Can Japan’s Emperor Akihito retire?
USA TODAY NETWORKEditors, USA TODAY NETWORK2:05 p.m. EDT August 8, 2016
Japan’s Emperor Akihito said Monday that the he worries his health will prevent him from fulfilling his duties as the head of state.
The 82-year-old has been in poor health in recent years and has cut back on a busy schedule that includes public appearances and goodwill missions across Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.
While it may not seem like a big deal that Akihito is hinting that he may want to retire, stepping down is not as simple as you’d think.
Here’s why Akihito signaling he may step down is a big deal:
People retire all the time, so why can’t Emperor Akihito?
It’s complicated. While Emperor Akihito never said he would “abdicate,” or step down during his Monday address, he did make it clear that his declining health has made it difficult for him to continue in his official capacity.
Stepping down may not be easy, however. No Japanese monarch has abdicated in nearly 200 years, no law governs such cases, and the popular 82-year-old monarch’s retirement could raise delicate questions about a ban on female succession and the imperial family’s place in society.
How much power does the emperor have?
Under Japan’s post-World War II constitution, the emperor is “the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people,” but he has no governmental authority and is not permitted to take part in political activity.
But despite a lack of government authority, Akihito and Empress Michiko are venerated by the Japanese, and the imperial family remains a popular institution. The emperor’s birthday — Dec. 23 — is a national holiday, when tens of thousands of well-wishers gather outside the Imperial Palace to greet the royal couple.
Who would succeed him?
Akihito is the 125th emperor of Japan. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne in January 1989, at age 55, following the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito, who led Japan during the country’s harsh colonial era and the world war that followed.
Akihito would like to abdicate in favor of his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, 56, according to scores of news reports.
Japan’s long-reigning emperor addresses the nation
Japan’s long-reigning emperor addresses the nation
Could a woman become emperor?
The imperial family traces an unbroken male line dating back at least 1,500 years. The government briefly discussed revising the law in 2005 to permit women to succeed to the throne if there were no male successors, but the effort was strongly opposed by traditionalists and the matter was dropped.
Some have hinted that if Akihito abdicates, it may open the door for more discussion about permitting women to succeed to the throne.
Crown Prince Naruhito has one daughter, so the crown would pass from his family to his brother, Crown Prince Akishino, followed by Akishino’s son, Prince Hisahito.
Akihito has devoted his life to the happiness of his people. In return, he deserves to be allowed to retire in peace
Emperor Akihito. ‘In his highly unusual speech to the Japanese people, he obliquely indicated both his desire to relinquish the throne while still alive and referred to himself as ‘a symbol of the state’ no fewer than seven times.’ Photograph: Koji Sasahara/AP
Thursday 11 August 201618.07 BSTLast modified on Friday 12 August 201612.31 BST The Guardian
What happens when God wants to retire? Although the emperor of Japan is no longer a deity, there was a time, not so long ago, when the country’s imperial rulers were believed to govern earthly affairs and those of heaven. The current emperor, Akihito, is very much human and has no desire to be a god – although Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic party, led by prime minister Shinzo Abe, would like to restore Japan’s pre-war constitution and to return the emperor to god-like status.
That is not something the 82-year-old emperor desires either for himself or his successors. In his highly unusual speech to the Japanese people, he obliquely indicated his desire to relinquish the throne while still alive and referred to himself as “a symbol of the state” no fewer than seven times.
A pacifist who opposes the return to a pre-war militaristic nation, Akihito, who came to the throne in 1989, believes firmly in the war-renouncing constitution imposed by the allies in 1947, as does his beloved wife, empress Michiko. His 2013 birthday press conference spelled it out quite clearly. “After the war, Japan was occupied by the allied forces, and based on peace and democracy as values to be upheld, established the constitution of Japan, undertook various reforms and built the foundation of Japan that we know today. I have profound gratitude for the efforts made by the Japanese people at the time who helped reconstruct and improve the country devastated by the war. I also feel that we must not forget the help extended to us in those days by Americans with an understanding of Japan and Japanese culture.” It’s a message that the ascending right wing in Japan finds unpleasant.
Akihito has a clear disdain for the reinstatement of state shinto. The official religion until 1945 was used by the Japanese government to promote belief in the divinity of the emperor and became the justification for conducting Japan’s imperial expansion in the 1930s. The emperor’s words were infallible; the Yamato race was superior. During the second world war millions of Japanese soldiers died and killed in the name of emperor Hirohito.
But the son of Hirohito has no truck with forced patriotism. Mark Austin, a Scottish journalist in Tokyo who was employed by the Yomiuri, a rightwing newspaper that is also the biggest in Japan, wrote in a post on social media: “At a press conference on his 68th birthday in 2001, [Akihito] referred to his Korean ancestry, shattering a long taboo, and at a spring garden party three years later, he mildly, but to devastating effect, admonished a functionary of the Tokyo municipal board of education who informed him he’d been touring schools to make sure all teachers were standing up for the national anthem, and singing it.
The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe: ‘Abdication and the debate and legal revision it would require stands in the way of Abe’s burning desire to make state shinto a centrepiece of civil society again.
“‘It is not good if it is forced,’ he said.
“The lickspittle functionary bowed deeply.
“The encounter created a stir.”
His compassionate work for social causes and his hands-on approach to comforting survivors of disasters, meanwhile, have endeared him to the people. After the 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster, he visited survivors who were temporarily housed in a gym. He got down on his knees on the floor of the gym to speak with them as equals. He later gave an official address to Japan, calling on the people to work together to overcome the tragedy. The only other time an emperor had made an official address to the nation was on 15 August 1945, when Hirohito told his subjects that Japan was going to surrender.
The emperor and his wife have also made a point of looking after poor people, disabled people and even the Korean-Japanese or Zainichi – many of whom arrived in Japan as slave labour and are routinely blamed for economic woes and openly harassed. The new governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, along with several other cabinet ministers handpicked by Abe, have been associated with Zaitokukai, a political group accused of inciting hostility towards all foreigners, and Korean-Japanese in particular.
Akihito’s compassion and humility are, by contrast, much appreciated by the people, with most polls showing that 80% or more believe he should be allowed to abdicate the throne.
Public support for his desire to abdicate may, as Devin Stewart – an expert on modern Japan at theCarnegie Council – has noted, reflect much broader social changes. “Japan is gradually becoming a more flexible and individualistic, less traditional society. Paradoxically, that also means that people feel they should be able to spend more time with their families (a traditional value) as well as more time pursuing hobbies and being rested and healthy.”
Under the current law Akihito has to carry on until he dies, and constitutional constraints mean that he can’t ask directly for changes in the law, he can only hint.
After a lifetime of selfless service and of battling illness and frailty, the emperor is, in effect, asking for some mercy and compassion for himself and his family. What cruel despot could possibly deny him the rest and retirement he deserves? The current prime minister might. Abdication and the debate and legal revision it would require stands in the way of Abe’s burning desire to alter the constitution, limit civil liberties and make state shinto a centrepiece of civil society again.
Akihito’s words about the duty of being a good emperor are, in my opinion, his own way of reminding Japan’s leaders to think less about themselves – and more about the welfare of the people. It’s a lesson the prime minister could certainly learn.
“I ascended to the throne approximately 28 years ago,” Akihito eloquently explained, “and during these years, I have spent my days together with the people of Japan, sharing much of the joys as well as the sorrows that have happened in our country. I have considered that the first and foremost duty of the emperor is to pray for peace and happiness of all the people. At the same time, I also believe that in some cases it is essential to stand by the people, listen to their voices, and be close to them in their thoughts.”
If prime minister Abe really cares about the peace and happiness of the Japanese people, he might actually listen to the will of the people and the wishes of the man he worships as a god.
A person, more dangerous than Abe?
Abe died by an assassination
◆ 11/3 日本国憲法公布の日に（憲法について考えるヒント）
令和の憲法記念日
◆◆「明治150年」への対論（戊辰戦争150年）
女性たちからの鋭い視線
◆ 2018年の「憲法」論調
◆ 2項に「追加」するもの
◆「前川がんばれ！」
◆ 憲法「改正」の動き Jan, 2018 ～
◆◆「明治150年」への対論（戊辰戦争150年）
◆ 「困った」新大臣 T.Ezakiさん
◆「2020改憲、聞いてないよ」自民内部からも(5/4～）
◆日本では「パン屋さん」の方が古いというのに！
◆「特例法」の憲法問題
◆「自民党憲法草案には何が書かれているのか」
石丸/斎藤/立花/玉木; “Fake!” 2024/12/2
★やはり権力は腐敗する:青木理が指摘する安倍1強の帰結2023/12/10 Full TEXT
★安保法制訴訟、初の憲法判断 2023/12/5長谷部恭男教授 Full TEXT
日本学術会議（続々）
明日から臨時国会が始まる。論点は補正予算やTPPなど様々だが、その一つに、天皇陛下の生前退位が挙げられる。去る8月8日、「象徴としてのお務めについての天皇陛下のおことば」が発された。そして、そこに「殯(もがり)」に関し、陛下から、以下のようなお気持ちの表明があった。
「天皇が健康を損ない，深刻な状態に立ち至った場合，これまでにも見られたように，社会が停滞し，国民の暮らしにも様々な影響が及ぶことが懸念されます。更にこれまでの皇室のしきたりとして，天皇の終焉に当たっては，重い殯の行事が連日ほぼ2ヶ月にわたって続き，その後喪儀に関連する行事が，1年間続きます。その様々な行事と，新時代に関わる諸行事が同時に進行することから，行事に関わる人々，とりわけ残される家族は，非常に厳しい状況下に置かれざるを得ません。こうした事態を避けることは出来ないものだろうかとの思いが，胸に去来することもあります。」
殯(もがり)とは、天皇が崩御したとき、天皇霊を新帝に引継ぐために、霊・肉を分離し、魂を浄化することにある。なぜ、このタイミングで陛下が「殯」を持ち出しこのような思いを述べられたのか？
2013年、宮内庁は天皇・皇后両陛下の葬儀やお墓の在り方を大きく変更すると異例の発表をした際、火葬を望まれるという両陛下の当時の思いを示した。このことと、併せて8月8日の「殯」への言及を考える必要があると思っている。
それは、日本の天皇位の根拠が古代における即位・大嘗祭(だいじょうさい)の特殊な構造にあることを理解しなければならないからである。こには天皇の死を契機とする殯、即ち遺体の腐敗が死の穢れと連動することにより、新しい天皇の誕生に影響を及ぼしていた過去があるからだ。
そのヒントは天武・持統朝と呼ばれる時代にある。壬申の乱の後、日本の統治機構、宗教、歴史、文化の原型が作られたと言われる時代で、天皇を称号とし日本を国号としたのもこのとき。古事記、日本書紀の「記紀」には、「神話」的叙述の段階から「大嘗」や「新嘗(にいなめ)」の語が登場するが、これらが明確に区別されて使われるようになったのも、天武以降であった。
「折口信夫は昭和３年に発表した『大嘗祭の本義』のなかで、大嘗祭儀のうちに鎮魂祭と天皇の死＝再生の儀礼が織り込まれていることを論じた。禁中に仮設される悠紀（ゆき）・主基（すき）の両殿に天皇の寝所がつくられ、茵（しとね）と衾（ふすま）が用意される。これは日嗣の皇子となる後継者がその資格を完成するために、寝所に引き籠って物忌みの生活に入るためのものである。
そして『日本書紀』の天孫降臨の場面で、ニニギノミコトのからだを覆っていた『真床襲衾（まどこおうふすま）』がちょうどこの大嘗祭における寝所の茵と衾にあたるのだという。その真床襲衾を取り除いて起き上がるとき、ヒツギノミコははじめて完全な天子となると信じられていた。
このとき先帝の『魂』が新しい天からだに入って、その永遠の生命の活動をはじめるというのである。折口がここで強調しているのは、天皇の肉体は一代ごとに変わっていくけれども、その肉体から肉体へと継承される『魂』は不変だということである。かれはその『魂』を永遠の『天皇霊』と同一視した。そして第二に、血統上ではもとよりそこに『皇位』の継承が考えられているが、しかし信仰上からは不変の魂（天皇霊）の継承のみが想定されているのだという。天皇の魂の不変性を儀礼的に保証するものが、毎年くり返しおこなわれる復活鎮魂の祭りとしての新嘗祭であり、代替わりのときにおこなわれる大嘗祭なのである。」（山折哲雄「死の民俗学」より）
このように天皇の皇位継承は、即位礼に続く大嘗祭によって完結する。これは英国など他の立憲君主国の場合と根本的に異なっており、それは「血」が繋がっていることもさることながら、永遠不変の「天皇霊」を先帝のからだから継承することこそが大嘗祭の本質だからである。
「血」の原理では、それが初代のカリスマ性を保証するものではあるが、しかし、代を重ねるごとの血の濃度の減少はカリスマ性の濃度が希薄化することに繋がる。つまり、日本の皇位継承には、「天皇霊」の原理がより強くはたらいているのである。
霊の原理は継受の過程でその濃度をいささかも減ずることがなく、血の原理と比べて相対的にその安定性は高い。だから、大嘗祭が重要な儀礼なのである。しかし、それは歴代の天皇が継承してきた天皇霊を新しい天皇がみずからの身体に受け入れることであるから、先帝の遺体の処理が滞りなく終了した後、すなわちその遺体から天皇霊を完全に分離させた後でないと行えない。つまり、先帝の葬送儀礼は何よりも遺体と魂をいかに分離するかということが課題となっていたのである。
例えば、天武天皇崩御にあたっては、2年2か月の殯が行われ、持統天皇による大嘗祭は先帝崩御の約5年後となり、その間の祀りごとは停滞し、皇位継承、ひいては社会の秩序安定も損ねることになる。そこで持統天皇は自らの葬儀にあたっては、火葬によって穢れを浄化できる仏式による葬儀を採用することになる。
これにより、殯の期間が持統１年、次の文武５か月、更に元明天皇では一週間になり、先帝の鎮魂、滞りなき皇位継承、そして社会の秩序安定が極めて短期間に達成できるようになった。別の言い方をすれば、宮殿の外部に仏殿が建てられ仏教との分業体制が整ったことにより、葬儀と天皇霊の継承といった浄穢（じょうえ)の分離を可能にする仕組みができあがったのである。
以後、孝明天皇まで1200年間、天皇の葬儀に仏教が関与することとなった。京都の泉涌寺は皇室の菩提寺で「御寺（みてら）」と呼ばれ、月輪陵（つきのわみさぎ）と呼ばれる陵墓には、四条天皇をはじめ後水尾天皇から仁孝天皇までの25陵、5灰塚、9墓が営まれている。天智天皇から（南北両朝の天皇も含む）歴代天皇皇后の53の尊牌（位牌）もこの寺に安置されている。（ちなみに、1654年の後光明天皇からは儀礼的火葬の後に土葬となる。）
更には、先帝の「死」を契機とする皇位継承は、当然のことながら遺体の処理と皇位継承という有事に対応せざるを得ない ことになる。
そこで皇位継承の場面から死穢（しえ）の排除ということを突き詰めていくと、「死」を契機とする皇位継承から「譲位」を契機とする皇位継承のほうがが、より安定した皇位の継承であると論理的には帰結していくことになる。
そうであるからこそ、持統天皇自身は生前に譲位し、そのまま大嘗祭で孫である文武天皇へ穢れなき霊の継承を行ったと思われる。そして元明天皇が平城京に遷都した以降、元正、聖武、孝謙へと譲位が恒常化していった。
このように皇統の中断なき継受を実現するため、(1)仏教との連携により天皇の死を外部化し、(2)譲位を恒常化するという、二重の防護壁を設けることで、先帝の死とは関係ない時空間で穢れなき大嘗祭が行うことができるようになった。もはや、殯の長期化に対する否定的な感覚は、この天武から聖武の時代に変更のきかない方針として定着しつつあった。
ところが、慶応4年・明治元年（1968年）、明治政府は一連の神仏分離令を発し神仏習合を禁止し、明治天皇を現人神とする国家神道を国教化する方針に踏み切る。同時に天皇が崩御された際の皇霊祭儀に関しても、1200年間続いていた仏式葬を止め、神式の「殯（もがり）」が復活した。つまり、持統天皇以来、皇位が安定的に継承されていく為の仕組みが一気に壊され、復古という名のもとに不安定だった天武以前の時代に逆戻りさせられたのである。
更には、天皇の葬儀とは直接関係ないものの、明治39年(1906年)に施行された１町村１社を原則とする神社合祀令は、「八百万の神々」に壊滅的なまでのダメージを与えた。
明治政府は記紀神話や延喜式神名帳に名のあるもの以外の神々を排滅することによって国家神道の純化を狙った。 全国で20万社あった神社のうち7万社が取り壊され、土地の神様（産土の神）の抹殺により、地域の歴史も分からなくなった地域もあるという。
特に熊野信仰などは、古来の自然崇拝に仏教や修験道などが混交して成り立ったある意味「何でもあり」の宗教で、合祀の対象となりやすかった。三重県、和歌山県他3県の神社減少率は9割と言われる。
３年前に「火葬」を望まれた両陛下の思いと、今回の「生前退位」、そして「重い殯」の行事をまるで忌避されるようなお言葉を併せて考えるに、それは持統天皇らのとった安定的な皇位継承に逆向する明治の「一連の宗教改革」に不快感を表明するもので、ひいては安倍政権が押し進めようとする憲法改正に象徴される、力による覇権、謂わば「明治レジーム」への激しい抵抗を「重い殯」という言葉に思いを込めて、ギリギリの球を投げ込んだのではないかと考えられる。
生前退位が、この臨時国会で陛下の健康をおもんばかってとの建前で、「特措法」として処理されかねない状況である。上述した我が国の皇統にまつわる歴史を鑑みれば、まさに、安倍政権が推し進めようとするわずか70余年の歴史でしかない現行憲法の改正、あるいは明治維新を是としての覇権主義国家への猛進を、陛下の重い「おことば」によって、我々は熟思黙想して正道へと導いていかなければならないと、強く感じるのである。
馬淵 澄夫 2016年09月25日