2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
The political research of modern Japanese constitutional monarchy compering with British modern monarchy
| Project/Area Number |
14510357
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Japanese history
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| Research Institution | KYOTO UNIVERSITY |
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Principal Investigator |
ITOU Yukio KYOTO UNIVERSITY, Graduate School of law, Professor, 大学院・法学研究科, 教授 (00203183)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2004
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| Keywords | Emperor Meiji / Emperor Taisho / Emperor Showa / Constitutional Monarchy / Manchurian Incident / Saionji Kinmochi / Prince Titibu / the image of emperor and the imperial family |
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| Research Abstract |
The first research outcome has been to demonstrate that Japan developed a Constitutional Monarchy like Britain in the late 1920s, reflecting both the individuality of the successive Emperors, Meiji (Mutsuhito), Taisho (Yoshihito) and Showa (Hirohito), as well as the conditions of the age.
The second is that one of the important reasons for the collapse of Constitutional Monarchy in 1932 was Emperor Showa's erratic interference in politics.
The third outcome is that Saionji Kinmochi, the only Genro appointed by Emperor Showa, gave the most astute advice during the crises of the Showa era but that the Emperor did not follow it.
The fourth has been to show that the images of the Emperor and the Imperial Family changed drastically from 1921 to 1932. After WW I, the Imperial Household Agency and the government worked to develop images of Crown Prince Hirohito and Prince Chichibu as being in touch with commoners, healthy and deeply interested in science. Prince Chichibu had success in this regard but Crown Prince Hirohito on the whole failed to secure this image. From the Hamaguchi Cabinet onwards, he appeared primarily in a Field Marshall's uniform and, from the Manchurian Incident on, always riding on a white horse which cultivated a divine mystique.
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Research Products
(14 results)
