Published on October 29, 2019. Based on an essay by Sekihei published in the Sankei Shimbun feature “A Miracle of World History That Prays for the People’s Happiness” on October 22, 2019, this article contrasts the Chinese emperor’s privatization of the realm with the Japanese Emperor’s selflessness, examining the continuity of the Imperial Household and the unity of Japan.

October 29, 2019.
The reason was solely the emperor’s “privatization of the realm and the state,” and his oppression and exploitation of the people.
By contrast, the Japanese Emperor never tries to privatize the realm and the state.
The following is from an essay by Sekihei titled “‘Invincible’ Because of ‘Selflessness,’” published in the Sankei Shimbun on October 22 as part of the special feature “A Miracle of World History That Prays for the People’s Happiness.”
The first time I saw with my own eyes the scene of Japan’s “Imperial succession” was in 1989, the first year of Heisei, one year after I came to Japan.
At that time, I watched a series of events related to the Imperial succession through the television screen, and I was deeply impressed by the solemn ceremonies and the nobility of His Majesty the Emperor.
China, the country of my birth, should have a far longer history and tradition than Japan, but now that long history is nothing more than the “past.”
Still less is it conceivable that a dynasty of the past would still be respected by the people today and maintain a tradition of an unbroken line for all ages.
By comparison, Japan’s Emperor and Imperial Household have woven a history of more than 2,600 years and 126 generations, counted from the founding of the nation by Emperor Jimmu.
What is the difference between Chinese dynasties, which last only a few hundred years at most, and Japan’s Imperial Household?
That had been my question since coming to Japan, but the opportunity to understand it in my own way came when I first visited the Kyoto Imperial Palace during a public opening five years after my arrival in Japan.
When I toured the inside of the palace, the first thing that surprised me was its simplicity.
In terms of grandeur or brilliant luxury, frankly speaking, it cannot compare with the Forbidden City, the former residence of the Chinese emperors.
And there was one more thing.
For a facility in which the Emperor, the highest-ranking figure in Japan, lived, its lack of defenses stood out.
Compared with the Forbidden City, surrounded by deep outer moats and high walls, and truly an impregnable fortress, the Kyoto Imperial Palace has almost no function for preventing a military attack.
To put it crudely, even a petty thief could easily climb over those low walls and enter.
When one thinks about it, successive Emperors must have lived in the palace for more than five hundred years, yet there seems to be no fact that it was ever attacked.
Even in the Sengoku period, that era of great turmoil, it was not attacked by any military force.
In other words, Japan’s Emperor and Imperial residence have almost no need to worry about being attacked by someone.
To put it even more directly, it means that, at least within Japan, the Emperor has no “enemy.”
Then why does no enemy exist?
This becomes clear when compared with the nature of the Chinese emperor.
Throughout history, Chinese emperors were always frightened by the existence of enemies.
The thick walls surrounding the Forbidden City and Beijing, and the fact that the emperor himself placed the country’s army directly under his command as the foundation of his power, testify to this.
Yet even so, the Chinese emperor never became an “unbroken line for all ages.”
When one dynasty arose, whether it lasted several hundred years at most or only a little more than ten years at shortest, some local force or popular rebellion inevitably occurred, and dynasties repeatedly perished.
The reason was solely the emperor’s “privatization of the realm and the state,” and his oppression and exploitation of the people.
By contrast, the Japanese Emperor never tries to privatize the realm and the state.
Still less does he make the people the objects of oppression and exploitation.
The Emperor always continues to pray for the happiness of the people, and for the people he is, so to speak, a “guardian deity,” and also the supreme being to whom they offer gratitude and respect.
In other words, the Emperor is “invincible” precisely because he is “selfless,” and this is likely the reason why Japan has overcome many hardships and continued to exist as one united whole.
Once again, we should turn our thoughts to the history of the Emperor and to how precious it is, and sincerely pray for the eternal continuation and prosperity of the Imperial Household.