Enigma of the Emperors

Sacred Subservience in Japanese History
Erscheinungsjahr 2003
ISBN: 978-1-901903-34-8
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, 312 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 632 g

This important new and original study on the institution of the Japanese emperors, from their mythological beginnings to the present day, focuses on the enigma of the institution itself, namely, the extraordinary continuity of the Japanese dynasty, which is unknown anywhere else in the world, yet which is now at risk on account of more recent laws of succession. The prisms through which this remarkable achievement is examined are the notions of divinity, gender and subservience. The volume is divided into nine sections: Strange Survival; The Feminine Beginnings of the Japanese Monarchy; Empresses and Consorts; Subservience as Power; Rising Fortunes in an Era of Peace; Meiji: the National Father Figure; The Elusive Divinity of the Modern Emperors; Return to Sacred Subservience; Continuity in Danger. Based on earlier research first published in Japanese (Haha Naru Tenno), Enigma of the Emperors adds significantly to the existing corpus of work on this subject, addressing many traditional preconceptions and misconceptions along the way. Accordingly, it will undoubtedly be welcomed within scholarly circles, as well as being of particular interest to a wider readership, not least because of its relevance in the context of the major contemporary issues surrounding the future of the dynasty in the twenty-first century.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Shillony, Ben-Ami

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1: Introduction; PART I. Strange Survival; 2: The Riddle of Continuity; 3: Were the Emperors Gods?; PART II. The Feminine Beginnings of the Japanese Monarchy; 4: Emperor and Goddess; 5: The Shaman Queens; PART III. Empresses and Consorts; 6: The First Tenno was a Woman; 7: Active Female Sovereigns; 8: Procreation and Power; PART IV. Subservience as Power; 9: Playing with the Confucian Model; 10: The Effete Sovereigns; 11: Strength Behind Weakness; PART V. Rising Fortunes in an Era of Peace; 12: Cultural Emperors in a Golden Cage; 13: Reappearance of Empresses; 14: The Rising Relevance of the Emperor; PART VI. Meiji: The National Father Figure; 15: Restoring a Confucian Sage King; 16: Building a Modern Father Figure; 17: Retaining the Traditional Subservience; 18: Consort and Concubines; PART VII. The Elusive Divinity of the Modern Emperors; 19: The Sacred Ruler Meiji; 20: The Human Emperor Taisho; 21: The Warrior Emperor Showa; 22: The Scion of the Goddess and the Son of God; PART VIII. Return to Sacred Subservience; 23: Back to the Symbolic Throne; 24: A New Kind of Crown Princess; 25: Sex, Death and the Emperor; 26: Hirohito, the Golden Years; PART IX. Continuity in Danger; 27: From Showa to Heisei; 28: Will a Woman Save the Throne?; Bibliography; Index

Über Autor(innen)

Ben-Ami Shillony is Louis Frieberg Professor of East Asian Studies at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specializing in Japanese history and culture. He is a former Chairman of the university’s Harry S.Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace. His writings on Japan are extensive in English, Hebrew and Japanese, with many of his essays in English appearing in Collected Writings of Ben-Ami Shillony (Japan Library, 2000). His other major works in English include Revolt in Japan (1973), Politics and Culture in Wartime Japan (1981 and 1991) and The Jews and the Japanese (1992).