Backlash against Japan imperial family rises with Emperor Naruhito ascendancy, as protests turn deadly in Tokyo
- The succession ceremony coincided with May 1, long marked as International Workers’ Day, which brought clashes between groups opposed to the imperial family and right-wingers
- But experts say recent incidents may not represent the emergence of a larger antimonarchical ideological because the vast majority of Japanese are fond of the royals
A series of security related incidents linked to Japan’s imperial family have forced police into a state of high alert, hinting at deep-seated antipathy towards the monarchy stirred by the recent succession ceremonies.
Emperor Naruhito on Thursday replaced his father Akihito, on the Chrysanthemum Throne, marking the end of the Heisei era and dawning of the Reiwa era.
Naruhito’s ascendancy coincided with May 1, long marked as International Workers’ Day, which brought clashes between groups opposed to the imperial family and right-wingers in Tokyo. Police had to step in to keep the rival groups apart, with two people arrested.
The same day, a man was found dead at the Musashino Imperial Graveyard, on the outskirts of Tokyo. The man had apparently committed suicide by shooting himself with a crossbow close to the mausoleums for Emperor Hirohito and Emperor Yoshihito, his immediate predecessor.
One day before Emperor Akihito formally abdicated, a man walked into the school of Prince Hisahito in Tokyo and taped two knives to the 12-year-old’s desk. Hisahito, who is now second in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne, was outdoors at the time.
