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Humanity Declaration

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The Humanity Declaration (人間宣言, Ningen-sengen), also known as the Imperial Rescript on the Construction of a New Japan (新日本建設に関する詔書, Shin Nippon Kensetsu ni Kan suru Shōsho), Imperial Rescript on National Revitalization (年頭、国運振興の詔書, Nentō, Kokuun Shinkō no Shōsho), and Imperial Rescript Denying His Divinity,[1] is an imperial rescript issued by the Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) as part of a New Year's statement on 1 January 1946 at the request of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (also known as General Headquarters, or GHQ). In the rescript, which started with his citation of the Five Charter Oath of 1868,[2] the Emperor denied the concept of his being a living god, which would eventually lead to the promulgation of the new Constitution, under which the Emperor is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people".[3]

The Declaration

Delivery of this rescript was to be one of Hirohito's last acts as the imperial Sovereign. The Supreme Commander Allied Powers and the Western world in general gave great attention to the following passage towards the end of the rescript:

朕ト爾等国民トノ間ノ紐帯ハ、終始相互ノ信頼ト敬愛トニ依リテ結バレ、単ナル神話ト伝説トニ依リテ生ゼルモノニ非ズ。天皇ヲ以テ現御神トシ、且日本国民ヲ以テ他ノ民族ニ優越セル民族ニシテ、延テ世界ヲ支配スベキ運命ヲ有ストノ架空ナル観念ニ基クモノニモ非ズ

— 『新日本建設に関する詔書』より抜粋

The ties between Us and Our people have always stood upon mutual trust and affection. They do not depend upon mere legends and myths. They are not predicated on the false conception that the Emperor is divine, and that the Japanese people are superior to other races and fated to rule the world.
(official translation)[4]

This rescript is said to have been drafted by Japanese cultural scholars Reginald Horace Blyth and Harold Gould Henderson,[5] who also contributed to the popularisation of Zen and the poetic form of haiku outside Japan.

Interpretation

The exact meaning of the text, which was published in archaic Japanese, has been the subject of considerable debate. In particular, in the passage of the declaration which was officially translated as "false conception according to which the emperor is divine", the unusual term akitsumikami (現御神) was used instead of the more common word arahitogami (現人神, "Living god").[6] The word arahitogami was first mentioned in the Nihon Shoki (c. 720), where the legendary Japanese prince Yamato Takeru said "I am the son of an Arahitokami".[7]

Western view

According to the popular Western view, promoted by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, the rescript challenged the centuries-old claim that the Japanese emperor and his predecessors were descendants of the sun goddess Amaterasu, and thus the Emperor had now publicly admitted that he was not a living god. Thus, the same day as the rescript was issued, General Douglas MacArthur announced that he was very much pleased with Hirohito's statement, which he saw as his commitment to lead his people in the democratisation of Japan.[3]

Although akitsumikami is often translated as "divine" or "divinity", some Western scholars (including John W. Dower and Herbert P. Bix) have pointed out that its real meaning is "manifest kami " (or, more generally, "incarnation of a god"), and that therefore the emperor would still be, according to the declaration, an arahitogami ("living god"), although not an akitsumikami ("manifest kami"). In fact, Jean Herbert explains that, according to the Japanese tradition, the figure of the emperor would be "the extension in time" of the goddess Amaterasu and the previous emperors, representing a naka ima (中今?)". Consequently, it would be inadmissible to deny its divine origin.[6]

Japanese views

On January 1, 1946 (Showa 21), the rescript was reported on the front page of each newspaper. The headline of the Asahi Shimbun was "At the beginning of the year, the rescript of the promotion of national luck, Kanpatsu, devoted to peace, improvement of people's welfare, and confusion of ideas." The Mainichi Shimbun said, "Give me a rescript for the New Year. The ties are with trust and respect, my heart, and the people." The headlines of the newspaper did not mention the deity, but only reported that Japan's peace and the emperor were with the people. The emperor's denial of deity had no news value at all.[8]

Critics of the Western interpretation, including the Emperor himself,[9] argue that the repudiation of divinity was not the point of the rescript. Since this rescript starts with a full quote from the Five Charter Oath of 1868 by the Meiji Emperor, the Emperor's true intention was that Japan had already been democratic since the Meiji Era and was not democratised by the occupiers. As was clarified at a press interview of 23 August 1977, the Emperor wanted the Japanese people not to forget pride in Japan. This interpretation is confirmed by the fact that the imperial rescript was published with a commentary by Prime Minister Kijūrō Shidehara that dwelt exclusively on the prior existence of democracy in the Meiji Era and did not make even passing reference to the emperor's "renunciation of divinity".[9]

Emperor Hirohito was persistent in the idea that the emperor of Japan should be considered a descendant of the gods. In December 1945, he told his vice-grand chamberlain Michio Kinoshita: "It is permissible to say that the idea that the Japanese are descendants of the gods is a false conception; but it is absolutely impermissible to call chimerical the idea that the emperor is a descendant of the gods."[10] Shinto officials and right wing groups throughout Japan today do not recognize the declaration as admitting that the emperor and country are not divine.[11]

The English rescript was discovered in 2005 (Heisei 17) and was published in the Mainichi Shimbun on January 1, 2006 (Heisei 18). Osamu Watanabe has sent the following comments to the newspaper.

The material is very valuable because it allows you to compare and examine a series of steps from draft to rescript. In the rescript, the connection between phrases is poor and the subject is difficult to understand, but the draft is understood to focus on the denial of the emperor's deity. This is probably because the Japanese side swapped the front and back or added new ones to the draft.

— Osamu Watanabe ( Professor, Hitotsubashi University Graduate School, Political History), Mainichi Shimbun, January 1, 2006

The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Maeda Tamon, along with Gakushuin University director Katsunoshin Yamanashi and Prime Minister Kijuro Shidehara, are key figures in Japan who have read and examined the draft of the Human Declaration. He was also a Quaker (Protestant friend) believer and, like many Japanese Christians, revered the emperor.[12] In December 1945 (Showa 20), he answered in a question and answer session of the Imperial Diet (帝国議会) that "the emperor is a god." "It is not a god of Western concept, but 'in the sense that it is the highest level in the world in the traditional Japanese concept 'is a god," he replied.[12][13]

Japanese manga artist Yoshinori Kobayashi said, "The reason why GHQ recommended the human declaration is because it misunderstood that the Japanese believe the emperor as an <absolute god>." In the late Meiji era, when American missionaries came to Japan, "God" was translated as "Shin" (神, しん) and Japanese people used the ancient "Kami" (カミ) as "God" (神) as well as China.[14] Therefore, the mixture of "Kami" and "God" began around the Meiji era, and GHQ misunderstood that the Japanese believed the emperor to be "God" (absolute god) from this mixture, so he declared humanity to Emperor Showa. However, if I dare to say that, it is a humorous act that makes "the god of cartoons (manga)" Osamu Tezuka[15] and "the god of management" Konosuke Matsushita make a "human declaration". In addition, the emperor used to say that he was "Akitsumikami (currently God)" but never a Western-style "God" (absolute god). In addition, the traditional concept of "Akitsumikami" for the emperor is physiologically as if Osamu Tezuka is called "God of Manga", Konosuke Matsushita is called "God of Management", soccer goalkeeper or baseball pitcher is called "Guardian God". It is similar to the traditional practice of Japanese people, who call extremely precious people "God" (神様), even if they are humans. In addition, it is difficult for Westerners who know only monotheism to understand this kind of feeling of Japanese people.[16]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Emperor, Imperial Rescript Denying His Divinity (Professing His Humanity) | Birth of the Constitution of Japan". www.ndl.go.jp. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  2. ^ "Documents with Commentaries Part 3 Formulation of the GHQ Draft and Response of the Japanese Government". Birth of the Constitution of Japan.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ a b [1], National Diet Library
  4. ^ Divinity of the Emperor, BBC article
  5. ^ Dower, p. 310.
  6. ^ a b Herbert, Jean (1964). Aux sources du Japon: Le Shinto. Parigi: Albin Michel.
  7. ^ Nihon Shoki, Chapter 7
  8. ^ この章は、シロニー(2003)、313-314頁 (第8章21『「神道指令」と「人間宣言」』)を参照。
  9. ^ a b Dower, John (1999). Embracing Defeat. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. pp. 314–317. ISBN 978-0-393-32027-5.
  10. ^ Wetzler, Peter (1998). Hirohito and War. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-8248-1925-5.
  11. ^ https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-religious-cult-secretly-running-japan
  12. ^ a b シロニー(2003)、312頁 (第8章21『「神道指令」と「人間宣言」』)。
  13. ^ Creemers, Shrine Shinto, pp.124-132; Kodansha Encyclopedia, vol.5, p.80.
  14. ^ {{Annotation = When Kobayashi describes "China", in this case, Tibet, Uighur, Northeast China (formerly Manchuria), Taiwan] ・ Refers to areas that do not include Inner Mongolia.}}
  15. ^ Baseel, Casey (October 4, 2019). "God of Manga Osamu Tezuka to return to work with "new manga" produced by AI". Sora News 24. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  16. ^ 小林ja:ゴーマニズム宣言スペシャル・天皇論P169〜P173

References

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