Chrysanthemum Throne
The Chrysanthemum Throne is the English term given to the Imperial Throne of Japan. In Japanese it is simply called the Imperial Throne (Japanese: kōi or 皇位). It is the oldest continuing monarchy in the world. In Nihonshoki it is said that the Empire of Japan was founded in 660 BC by Emperor Jimmu. According to tradition, Emperor Akihito is the 125th direct descendant of Jimmu. The historical record goes back to Emperor Ōjin [citation needed] who is stated to have reigned in the early 5th century. Despite the fact that there had previously been eight female Emperors (in Japan only the wife of an Emperor is called an Empress, or kōgō/皇后), under Japanese Imperial law, promulgated by Emperor Meiji in 1889 and reformed by the Diet in 1947, women have been barred from reigning since the late 19th century.
The Emperor (Japanese: tennō or 天皇, “heavenly sovereign”) acts as a high priest in the ancestral religion Shintō, although his claim to divine origin from the Sun Goddess Amaterasu was formally renounced after World War II.
Under the provisions of the current Constitution of Japan, the Emperor is a "symbol of the state and the unity of its people"; he has no real political power but is treated as the Head of State and a constitutional monarch.
See also
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