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Curzon
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Curzon

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February 27th, 2007

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The Imperial Household Council of Japan

Japan has been an effective Constitutional Monarchy since 1947, but it remains the only country in the world with an Emperor. The Parliament and the Cabinet control politics, but the Emperor performs select actions at the invitation of the Cabinet.

The Council and other laws regarding the Emperor are governed by The Imperial Household Law, which came into effect the same day as Japan’s modern Constitution in 1947. The affairs of the Imperial Palace are run by the Imperial Household Council (çš”¡Ã¥Â®Â¤Ã¤Â¼Å¡Ã¨Â­Â°Ã¯Â¼”°, composed of ten members defined by law:

  • Two members of the Imperial Family
  • Chairman of the Lower House
  • Vice Chairman of the Lower House
  • Chairman of the Upper House
  • Vice Chairman of the Upper House
  • The Prime Minister
  • The Head of the Imperial Household Agency
  • The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
  • A Judge of the Supreme Court

This council is the controlling body of the affairs of the Emperor and the Imperial Family, not subject to any outside review or appeal. It’s powers are broad: for example, the council chooses the spouse of the Emperor and the Crown Prince (or at least approves the Emperor or Crown Prince’s choice). It’s the last vestige of imperial government in Japan, and one that shows no signs of changing anytime in the near future.

AFTERTHOUGHT: Anyone have information on how the affairs of the British royal family are managed and governed?

Comments to this entry

Durf
February 27, 2007
2:28 pm
I believe Imperial House Law is the more commonly used English name of that legislation, despite what Wikipedia says.
Mutantfrog
February 28, 2007
7:22 am
Well, I have only seen the term "Imperial Household Ministry" in English, not "Imperial House" so I would think that "Imperial Household Law" is also standard.
Curzon
February 28, 2007
9:30 am
Durf: I've never see "Imperial House Law", but I could be wrong.

MF: The "Imperial Household Agency" is a different body, the 宮唠”¦Ã¥ÂºÂ?. That's the bureaucratic arm related to the above council. The Imperial Household _Ministry_ was abolished in 1949 and replaced with the aforementioned agency.
Curzon
February 28, 2007
2:21 pm
One more thing: the other political/legal difference is that the Imperial Household Agency is under the jurisdiction of the cabinet and thus is accountable to a higher authority. The Council is not -- which is what makes it so peculiar, and in many ways, extrajudicial.
Mutantfrog
March 1, 2007
1:28 am
Right, Agency. I'm obviously reading too much pre-war history lately. I kind of thought from your initial post that this Council was a body within the Agency, but the fact that it's separate is very interesting.

The other day I was skimming a book about Emperor related issues that I picked up at book-off and saw an interesting discussion about whether or not the Emperor is legally considered a citizen, and whether or not he even has "human rights."
Curzon
March 1, 2007
5:11 am
Whether or not the emperor is a citizen is a long story. I'll put my notes in here and let someone else translate it if they have the time.

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* 中途?説：天çš”¡Ã£Â?¯å”ºÂ½Ã¦Â°”˜Ã£Â?«åÂ?«ãÂ?¾ã”šÅ’ãÂ?ªãÂ?”žÃ£Â?Œã€Â?çš”¡Ã¦—Â?ãÂ?¯å”ºÂ½Ã¦Â°”˜Ã£Â?«åÂ?«ãÂ?¾ã”šÅ’㔚”¹Ã£Â?¨ãÂ?™ã”š”¹Ã¨ÂªÂ¬Ã£â‚¬”š
* Ã¥Â?¦å®šèª¬ï¼šå®Œå”¦Â¨Ã£Â?«å”ºÂ½Ã¦Â°”˜Ã£Â?§ãÂ?¯ãÂ?ªãÂ?”žÃ£â‚¬”šÃ¥”ºÂ½Ã¦Â°”˜Ã£Â?®è±¡å¾´ãÂ?¨ãÂ?—ãÂ?¦è¡Œç”šÂºÃ£Â?™ã”š”¹Ã¥Â¤Â©Ã§Å¡”¡Ã£Â?¯å”ºÂ½Ã¦Â°”˜Ã£Â?¨ãÂ?—ãÂ?¦ãÂ?¿ãÂ?ªãÂ?™ãÂ?®ãÂ?¯çŸ”ºÃ§”ºÂ¾Ã£Â?™ã”š”¹Ã£â‚¬”š

天çš”¡Ã£Â?Œæœ”°Ã£Â?™ã”š”¹Ã¦Â¨Â©Ã¥Ë†Â©Ã£Æ’»ç¾©å”¹â„¢Ã¯Â¼Å¡
* 学唢Â?ãÂ?®è”¡ÂªÃ§”?±ãƒ»æ”¢â„¢Ã¨”šÂ²Ã£”š'Ã¥Â?—ãÂ?”˜Ã£”š”¹Ã¦Â¨Â©Ã¥Ë†Â©Ã£Æ’ȌÂ?—ãÂ?”˜Ã£Â?”¢Ã£Â?”ºÃ£”š”¹Ã§Â¾Â©Ã¥”¹â„¢
* æ€Â?想åÂ?ŠãÂ?³è”°Â¯Ã¥Â¿Æ’ãÂ?®è”¡ÂªÃ§”?±ãƒ»ä¿¡ä»°ãÂ?®è”¡ÂªÃ§”?±
* 通信ãÂ?®ç§˜å¯” Ã£Æ’»ãƒ—ラ㔚¤ãƒÂ?㔚·ãƒ¼æ¨©
* ç´Â?税ãÂ?®ç¾©å”¹â„¢Ã£Æ’»è²¡ç”?£æ¨©ãÂ?®ä¿Â?éšœ

天çš”¡Ã£Â?Œæœ”°Ã£Â?—ãÂ?ªãÂ?”žÃ¦Â¨Â©Ã¥Ë†Â©Ã£Æ’»ç¾©å”¹â„¢

(1) Ã¥”ºÂ½Ã¦Â°”˜Ã£Â?®è±¡å¾´ãÂ?¨ãÂ?—ãÂ?¦ãÂ?®åœ°ä½Â?ãÂ?”¹Ã£”š”°Ã¨Â¨Â±Ã£Â?”¢Ã£Â?ªãÂ?”žÃ¦Â¨Â©Ã¥Ë†Â©
o ç«”¹Ã¥â‚¬â„¢Ã¨Â£Å“ãÂ?™ã”š”¹Ã¨”¡ÂªÃ§”?±
o èÂ?·æ¥­ãÂ?«å°±ãÂ?Â?蔡ªç”?±
o 夔“Ã¥”ºÂ½Ã§Â§Â»Ã¤Â½Â?・唺½ç±Â?锺¢è”žÂ±

(2) ãÂ?Â?ãÂ?®ä»”“
o 婚姻ãÂ?®è”¡ÂªÃ§”?±ï¼ˆçš”¡Ã¥Â®Â¤Ã¥”¦Â¸Ã§Â¯”žÃ¯Â¼”°
o 財ç”?£è­²æ¸¡ãƒ»è­²åÂ?—（ä½” Ã£Â?—ã€Â?財ç”?£æ¨©ãÂ?®ä¿Â?障４°Ã¯Â¼Ë†Ã§Å¡”¡Ã¥Â®Â¤Ã¨Â²Â¡Ã§”?£ï¼”°
o æ”?¿æ²»æ´»å”¹”¢Ã£Â?®è”¡ÂªÃ§”?±ï¼ˆæ”?¿æ²»ãÂ?®å¤”“ãÂ?«ãÂ?”šÃ£”š”¹Ã¨Â¶”¦Ã§”žÂ¶Ã£Â?Ÿã”š”¹Ã¥Â­ËœÃ¥Å“¨ï¼”°
Curzon
March 1, 2007
5:45 am
For what it's worth (and sorry to all you non-Japanese speakers out there), according to the most recent district court case, the Emperor is a citizen -- with minimum necessary special treatment required by his position as the Emperor.

â—” Ã¥Â¯Å’山地è£Â?判　平æˆÂ?ï¼”˜Ã¯Â¼Â?å¹´ï¼”˜Ã¯Â¼'月ï¼”˜Ã¯Â¼”“日　（判晔šÃ¯Â¼”˜Ã¯Â¼”“９９åÂ?·ï¼”˜Ã¯Â¼'ï¼Â?é Â?ï¼”°
ã€Â?è¦Â?旨〔˜
天çš”¡Ã£”š”šÃ¦” Â²Ã¦Â³”¢Ã§Â¬Â¬Ã¯Â¼“ç« ãÂ?«ãÂ?”žÃ£Â?” Ã¥”ºÂ½Ã¦Â°”˜Ã£Â?«åÂ?«ãÂ?¾ã”šÅ’ã€Â?ãÂ?—ãÂ?ŸãÂ?΋Â?£ãÂ?¦ã€Â?攠²æ³”¢Ã£Â?®ä¿Â?éšœãÂ?™ã”š”¹Ã¥Å¸ÂºÃ¦Å“¬çš”žÃ¤ÂºÂºÃ¦Â¨Â©Ã£Â?®äº«æœ”°Ã¤Â¸Â»Ã¤Â½“ãÂ?§ãÂ?”šÃ£”šÅ Ã£â‚¬Â?天çš”¡Ã£Â?®åœ°ä½Â?ãÂ?®ä¸”“襲制ã€Â?天çš”¡Ã£Â?®è±¡å¾´ãÂ?¨ãÂ?—ãÂ?¦ãÂ?®åœ°ä½Â?ã€Â?天çš”¡Ã£Â?®èÂ?·å”¹â„¢Ã£Â?”¹Ã£”š”°Ã£Â?Â?㔚”¹Ã¦Å“€å°Â?é™Â?ãÂ?®åÂ?”“㔚Šæ”°Â±Ã£Â?”žÃ£Â?®ãÂ?¿ãÂ?ŒèªÂ?㔚Â?㔚”°Ã£”šÅ’㔚”¹Ã£”š”šÃ£Â?®ãÂ?¨è§£ãÂ?”¢Ã£”šÅ’㔚”¹Ã£Â?”¹Ã£”š”°Ã£â‚¬Â?天çš”¡Ã£Â?«ã”š”šÃ£Æ’—ラ㔚¤ãƒÂ?㔚·ãƒ¼ãÂ?®æ¨©åˆ©ã”š”žÃ¨”š”“åƒÂ?権ãÂ?Œä¿Â?éšœãÂ?”¢Ã£”šÅ’㔚”¹Ã£â‚¬”š
Mutantfrog
March 1, 2007
8:06 am
Can you just imagine how weird the proceedings would be if the Emperor filed a lawsuit over violation of his privacy or likeness rights?
Curzon
March 1, 2007
1:25 pm
It gets weirder: the Emperor has no right to file a civil suit in Japan, on the grounds that it violates Article 1 of the Constitution, which states his role as a symbol of the citizens; to sue a citizen would make him a symbol of less than all the citizenry. However, as in the case noted above, other government bodies have "sued in his place.":http://www.translan.com/jucc/precedent-1998-12-16.html
Yago
March 1, 2007
3:58 pm
ç´Â?税ãÂ?®ç¾©å”¹â„¢

seriously? He pays taxes?
Curzon
March 1, 2007
11:51 pm
Yup -- at least on any income he makes.
Mutantfrog
March 2, 2007
12:41 am
But does he have any income? All the Imperial Residences and so on are government property after all.
Aceface
March 2, 2007
1:38 am
His daughter(Former princess Norinomiya) was working in Yamashina Institute of Ornithology as a secretary.But as I understand there were no payment for her labor.
Curzon
March 2, 2007
1:39 am
Not quite -- the Emperor owns property (and his preservation of property rights are protected by the Constitution), but any transfer of any property is restricted under Articles 8 and 88 of the Constitution.
Joe
March 2, 2007
5:02 am
Well, it seems to me that the restrictions only apply to Imperial Household property, not to the property of its individual members. And even then, the only real restriction on the Household is that it has to follow the Diet's budget, right?
Mutantfrog
March 2, 2007
5:15 am
Was that before she was a "former" princess?
Aceface
March 2, 2007
8:46 am
yep.
yellowpeep
March 3, 2007
9:13 am
Curzon,

It takes up three interpretations, affirmative, neutral and negative ones on the issue whether the Emperor can be defined as a citizen. I omit these reasonings described above.

The latter part lists up the rights the Emperor can hold:
Education, worship, privacy, communication, property, etc. are acknowledged as his rights.

Living overseas, running for elections, choosing occupation is prohibited. I'm not sure they are clarified, but this is regarded natural among citizens.


I want to stress that a funny thing is happening: liberal people who keep demanding human rights are still content with restricting the Emperor's rights. Opening up discussions on increase Emperor's right is a taboo in Japan.

You are mean letting people translate it while you can read Japanese :-)
Curzon
March 3, 2007
4:00 pm
Thanks YP, it's all about time -- now that it's the weekend I could have done it, but you've beat me to it. Thank you!
Joe
March 4, 2007
2:00 am
The taboos regarding the Japanese emperor are interesting. I wonder how many Japanese people even know his name (at an interscholastic "Japan Bowl" I went to a few years back, none of the Japanese teachers or exchange students present had any idea).
yellowpeep
March 4, 2007
4:54 am
The family of Emperor used to have a family name, which they haven't have, such as just with their given name like "Akihito". Ordinary people have, of course, a family and given name such as "Koizumi Junichiro".

But, I've heard the Emperor's family have hidden their family name so they can conceal their origin. That way their origin is still successfully not known to everybody. BTW, my mother's maiden name can be traced back to a very old era just because of her family name.
Joe
March 4, 2007
6:19 pm
"Wait a minute, you're all named Kim?!"
Aceface
March 5, 2007
4:40 am
The usage of the last name is pretty new in the history of Japan.
Besides it was natural for royals to follow their family name because politics in those days were organized by kinship relation and political marriages.

Kims and Parks started calling themselves when Korean started to convert heavyly to the chinese culture which is also relatively new phenomenon.Any Korean with in Japanese royals must have names something non chinese as "Kim".