Humanity Declaration: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|1946 announcement by Japanese Emperor Hirohito}} | {{Short description|1946 announcement by Japanese Emperor Hirohito}} | ||
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The {{nihongo|'''Humanity Declaration'''|人間宣言|Ningen-sengen}} is an | The {{nihongo|'''Humanity Declaration'''|人間宣言|Ningen-sengen}} is an imperial [[rescript]] issued by [[Hirohito]], the [[emperor of Japan]], as part of a [[Japanese New Year|New Year's]] statement on 1 January 1946 at the request of the [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers]]. In the rescript, which started with his citation of the [[Five Charter Oath]] of 1868,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Documents with Commentaries Part 3 Formulation of the GHQ Draft and Response of the Japanese Government|url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/shiryo/03/056shoshi.html|last=|first=|date=|website=Birth of the Constitution of Japan|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}</ref> the [[Emperor of Japan|Emperor]] denied the concept of his divinity, which would eventually lead to the promulgation of the [[Constitution of Japan|new Constitution]], under which the Emperor is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people".<ref name="National Diet Library">[http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/shiryo/03/056shoshi.html Emperor, Imperial Rescript Denying His Divinity (Professing His Humanity)], ''[[National Diet Library]].''</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Emperor, Imperial Rescript Denying His Divinity (Professing His Humanity) {{!}} Birth of the Constitution of Japan |url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/shiryo/03/056shoshi.html |access-date=2020-09-14 |website=www.ndl.go.jp |language=en}}</ref> | ||
==The Declaration== | ==The Declaration== | ||
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{{quote|The ties between Us and Our people have always stood upon mutual trust and affection. They do not depend upon mere legends and myths. They are not predicated on the false conception that the Emperor is divine, and that the Japanese people are superior to other races and fated to rule the world.|Official translation of the Declaration<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/shinto/history/emperor_1.shtml Divinity of the Emperor, BBC article].</ref>}} | {{quote|The ties between Us and Our people have always stood upon mutual trust and affection. They do not depend upon mere legends and myths. They are not predicated on the false conception that the Emperor is divine, and that the Japanese people are superior to other races and fated to rule the world.|Official translation of the Declaration<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/shinto/history/emperor_1.shtml Divinity of the Emperor, BBC article].</ref>}} | ||
This first draft of this rescript is said to have been drafted by [[Japanese culture|Japanese cultural]] scholars [[Reginald Horace Blyth]] and [[Harold Gould Henderson]],<ref>Dower, pp. 308–318.</ref> who also contributed to the popularisation of [[Zen]] and the poetic form of [[haiku]] outside [[Japan]]. | This first draft of this rescript is said to have been drafted by [[Japanese culture|Japanese cultural]] scholars [[Reginald Horace Blyth]] and [[Harold Gould Henderson]],<ref>Dower, pp. 308–318.</ref> who also contributed to the popularisation of [[Zen]] and the poetic form of [[haiku]] outside [[Japan]]. | ||
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===Japanese view===<!--cf. [[:ja:人間宣言#社会的影響]]--><!--https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Humanity_Declaration&diff=prev&oldid=980531020--> | ===Japanese view===<!--cf. [[:ja:人間宣言#社会的影響]]--><!--https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Humanity_Declaration&diff=prev&oldid=980531020--> | ||
On 1 January 1946, the rescript was reported on the front page of many major newspapers. The {{transliteration|ja|[[Asahi Shimbun]]}} headline was "New year's day rescript paves way for peace and progress for the people as Emperor laments confusion of ideals."{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Japanese text: | On 1 January 1946, the rescript was reported on the front page of many major newspapers. The {{transliteration|ja|[[Asahi Shimbun]]}} headline was "New year's day rescript paves way for peace and progress for the people as Emperor laments confusion of ideals."{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Japanese text: {{lang|ja|年頭、国運振興の詔書{{ruby|渙発|かんぱつ}} 平和に徹し民生向上、思想の混乱を{{ruby|御軫念|ごしんねん}}}}.}} The {{transliteration|ja|[[Mainichi Shimbun]]}} headline was, "Rescript presented in the new year: The bonds of society are trust, respect, the Emperor, and the People."{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Japanese text: {{lang|ja|新年に詔書を賜ふ 紐帯は信頼と敬愛、朕、国民と供にあり}}.}} The newspaper headlines did not mention divinity, only that peace and the emperor were with the people. The emperor's refutation of divinity was not valuable as news.<ref name="hahanaru313-314">この章は、Shillony (2003)、313–14 頁 (第8章21『「神道指令」と「人間宣言」』)を参照。</ref> | ||
Critics of the Western interpretation, including Emperor Shōwa himself,<ref name = Dower>{{cite book | last = Dower | first = John | authorlink = John W. Dower| title = [[Embracing Defeat]] | publisher = W. W. Norton & Co | location = New York | year = 1999 | pages = 314–317 | isbn = 978-0-393-32027-5 }}</ref> argue that the repudiation of divinity was not the point of the rescript. Some{{who?|date=September 2022}} argue that since this rescript starts with a full quote from the [[Five Charter Oath]] of 1868 by [[Emperor Meiji]], the Emperor's true intention was that Japan had already been democratic since the [[Meiji Era]] and was not democratized by the occupiers. As was clarified in a press interview on 23 August 1977, the Emperor wanted the Japanese people not to forget pride in Japan. This interpretation is supported by the fact that the imperial rescript was published with a commentary by [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] [[Kijūrō Shidehara]] that dwelt exclusively on the prior existence of democracy in the Meiji Era and did not make even passing reference to the emperor's "renunciation of divinity."<ref name = Dower/> | Critics of the Western interpretation, including Emperor Shōwa himself,<ref name = Dower>{{cite book | last = Dower | first = John | authorlink = John W. Dower| title = [[Embracing Defeat]] | publisher = W. W. Norton & Co | location = New York | year = 1999 | pages = 314–317 | isbn = 978-0-393-32027-5 }}</ref> argue that the repudiation of divinity was not the point of the rescript. Some{{who?|date=September 2022}} argue that since this rescript starts with a full quote from the [[Five Charter Oath]] of 1868 by [[Emperor Meiji]], the Emperor's true intention was that Japan had already been democratic since the [[Meiji Era]] and was not democratized by the occupiers. As was clarified in a press interview on 23 August 1977, the Emperor wanted the Japanese people not to forget pride in Japan. This interpretation is supported by the fact that the imperial rescript was published with a commentary by [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] [[Kijūrō Shidehara]] that dwelt exclusively on the prior existence of democracy in the Meiji Era and did not make even passing reference to the emperor's "renunciation of divinity."<ref name = Dower/> | ||
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==See also== | ==See also== | ||
{{Portal|Monarchy|Japan}} | |||
* [[Occupation of Japan]] | * [[Occupation of Japan]] | ||
* [[State Shinto]] | * [[State Shinto]] | ||
Latest revision as of 20:26, 21 December 2025
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates The Script error: No such module "Nihongo". is an imperial rescript issued by Hirohito, the emperor of Japan, as part of a New Year's statement on 1 January 1946 at the request of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. In the rescript, which started with his citation of the Five Charter Oath of 1868,[1] the Emperor denied the concept of his divinity, which would eventually lead to the promulgation of the new Constitution, under which the Emperor is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people".[2][3]
The Declaration
Delivery of this rescript was to be one of the Emperor's last acts as the imperial Sovereign. The Supreme Commander Allied Powers and the Western world in general gave great attention to the following passage towards the end of the rescript:
This first draft of this rescript is said to have been drafted by Japanese cultural scholars Reginald Horace Blyth and Harold Gould Henderson,[4] who also contributed to the popularisation of Zen and the poetic form of haiku outside Japan.
Interpretation
The exact meaning of this text, which was published in archaic Japanese, has been the subject of considerable debate. In particular, in the passage of the declaration which was officially translated as "false conception according to which the emperor is divine", the unusual term Script error: No such module "Nihongo". was used instead of the more common word Script error: No such module "Nihongo".[5] Script error: No such module "lang". means "exist" or "appear", Script error: No such module "lang". means "person" and Script error: No such module "lang". means "god". The word Script error: No such module "lang". was first mentioned in the Script error: No such module "lang". (c. Template:TrimScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".), where the legendary Japanese prince Yamato Takeru said "I am the son of an Script error: No such module "lang".."[6]
Western view
According to the popular Western view, promoted by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, the rescript challenged the centuries-old claim that the Japanese emperor and his predecessors were descendants of the sun goddess Amaterasu, and thus the Emperor had now publicly admitted that he was not a living god. Thus, the same day as the rescript was issued, General Douglas MacArthur announced that he was very much pleased with the Emperor's statement, which he saw as his commitment to lead his people in the democratisation of Japan.[2]
Although Script error: No such module "lang". is often translated as "divine" or "divinity", some Western scholars (including John W. Dower and Herbert P. Bix) have pointed out that its real meaning is "manifest Script error: No such module "lang"." (or, more generally, "incarnation of a god"), and that therefore the emperor would still be, according to the declaration, an Script error: No such module "lang". ("living god"), although not an Script error: No such module "lang". ("manifest Script error: No such module "lang".").Script error: No such module "Unsubst". In fact, Jean Herbert explains that, according to the Japanese tradition, the figure of the emperor would be "the extension in time" of the goddess Amaterasu and the previous emperors, representing a privileged moment in eternity. Consequently, it would be inadmissible to deny its divine origin."[5]
Japanese view
On 1 January 1946, the rescript was reported on the front page of many major newspapers. The Script error: No such module "lang". headline was "New year's day rescript paves way for peace and progress for the people as Emperor laments confusion of ideals."Template:Refn The Script error: No such module "lang". headline was, "Rescript presented in the new year: The bonds of society are trust, respect, the Emperor, and the People."Template:Refn The newspaper headlines did not mention divinity, only that peace and the emperor were with the people. The emperor's refutation of divinity was not valuable as news.[7]
Critics of the Western interpretation, including Emperor Shōwa himself,[8] argue that the repudiation of divinity was not the point of the rescript. SomeScript error: No such module "Unsubst". argue that since this rescript starts with a full quote from the Five Charter Oath of 1868 by Emperor Meiji, the Emperor's true intention was that Japan had already been democratic since the Meiji Era and was not democratized by the occupiers. As was clarified in a press interview on 23 August 1977, the Emperor wanted the Japanese people not to forget pride in Japan. This interpretation is supported by the fact that the imperial rescript was published with a commentary by Prime Minister Kijūrō Shidehara that dwelt exclusively on the prior existence of democracy in the Meiji Era and did not make even passing reference to the emperor's "renunciation of divinity."[8]
Emperor Shōwa was persistent in the idea that the emperor of Japan should be considered a descendant of the gods. In December 1945, he told his vice-grand chamberlain Michio Kinoshita: "It is permissible to say that the idea that the Japanese are descendants of the gods is a false conception; but it is absolutely impermissible to call chimerical the idea that the emperor is a descendant of the gods."[9] Shinto officials and right-wing groups throughout Japan today do not recognize the declaration as admitting that the emperor and country are not divine.[10]
The English rescript was discovered in 2005 and was published in the Script error: No such module "lang". on 1 January 2006. Professor Osamu Watanabe sent the following comments to the newspaper:
The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Maeda Tamon, along with Gakushuin University director Katsunoshin Yamanashi and Prime Minister Kijuro Shidehara, are key figures in Japan who have read and examined the draft of the Humanity Declaration. He was also a Quaker and, like many Japanese Christians, revered the emperor.[11] In December 1945, he answered in a question and answer session of the Imperial Diet that "the emperor is a god". "It is not a god of Western concept, but 'in the sense that it is the highest level in the world in the traditional Japanese concept' is a god", he replied.[11][12]
See also
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Notes
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Citations
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Emperor, Imperial Rescript Denying His Divinity (Professing His Humanity), National Diet Library.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Dower, pp. 308–318.
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".Template:ISBN?Template:Page?
- ↑ Nihon Shoki, Chapter 7.
- ↑ この章は、Shillony (2003)、313–14 頁 (第8章21『「神道指令」と「人間宣言」』)を参照。
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Shillony (2003)、312頁 (第8章21『「神道指令」と「人間宣言」』)。
- ↑ Creemers, Shrine Shinto, pp. 124–32; Kodansha Encyclopedia, vol. 5, p. 80.
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References
- Dower, John W. (1999). Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. New York: W. W. Norton. Template:ISBN; Template:Catalog lookup link
- ベン・アミー・シロニー(著) Ben-Ami Shillony(原著)『母なる天皇―女性的君主制の過去・現在・未来』大谷堅志郎 (翻訳)、講談社 (2003/1/1). Template:ISBN.
External links
- Full text of the rescript (in Japanese and English, not official)
- Full text (official in Japanese)
- Original Document (National Archives of Japan)