Splendid Monarchy

Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan

Bibliographic Data

ID2582016
AuthorsYoshinobu Ota, Takashi Fujitani
Year1997
Volume70
Issue4
Pages200
Publication date1997-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthropological Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-5491 • E-ISSN: 1534-1518
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/3317227
OpenAlexW2076226573
LanguageEN
Citations received12

Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan. TAKASHI FUJITANI. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996; xiv 305 pp. (cloth). This is a historical ethnography of Japanese nation-state as it emerged through efforts of elite leaders in government who had transformed emperor into national (transcending) subject to whom common Japanese also subjected themselves as uniform citizens. During late nineteenth century and early twentieth century imperial institution was invented as a timeless tradition whose historical depth was said to ground unity of imperial subjects. Many historians have shown that governance prior to restoration had been through status difference maintained by rigid social hierarchy, rather than through social uniformity. Then, how did these leaders succeed in convincing ordinary Japanese of importance of imperial institution, or how did common people learn to forget invented quality of this institution? This is central question that Fujitani addresses with his skillful demonstration of historical data that include not only documents but also postcards, picture books, and other popular graphic representations, since according to him, they contain cultural meanings encoded corporally. His (Foucauldian) genealogical approach is sound and successful in disclosing a rupture in Japanese conception of national time and space; therefore this book is also a powerful critique of Japanese nationalism founded on idea of national tradition and its continuity. The fact that imperial institution was invented for purpose of national unification around turn of this century has been widely known, but Fujitani advances this knowledge by his meticulous documentation on how such an aim was achieved. He suggests that what he terms the mnemonic sites, material vehicles of meaning that ... construct a memory of an emperor-centered national past (p.11-ritual landscapes, to be precise-were instrumental in transformation of imperial household as center of a national community. Prior to 1885 emperor traveled to various parts of Japan to represent himself as part of national pageantry. The intentions of elites were betrayed, however, since many Japanese were said to be impressed more with splendor of emperor than with any ideological messages he was supposed to represent; some were reported to interpret him even as a personified deity in folk religion and transform day of his visit into a festivity. It took nearly twenty years to make this institution recognized as center and embodiment of nationality. This process ceased around 1885 when every elementary school in Japan had begun receiving his portrait for veneration. This important ritual for nation building was also a part of a plan for constructing two mnemonic sites: Tokyo and Kyoto. These sites contained layers of meaning structured homologously: on one hand, Tokyo, where imperial palace stands, represented ideas of modernity and dominance, emperor's masculinity expressed in his military attire, and his visibility as leader; and, on other hand, Kyoto, where historicity of imperial household was deeply felt, stood for ambivalent gender identity of young emperor, and his invisibility as mythical figure infused with tradition

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