SYMBOLS MATTER: IMPERIAL DIPLOMACY IN POSTWAR JAPAN

Abstract

This article analyzes the significance of imperial diplomacy in postwar Japan. While the emperor performed many formal duties, he played only a symbolic role in decision-making process and was usually separated from politics. Nevertheless, the symbolic importance of the emperor was periodically used by politicians to promote friendly relations with other countries. The main aim of the article is to examine to what extent Japanese decision-makers took advantage of the emperor in diplomacy through drafting his speeches, arranging his appointments with foreign statespersons, and planning his visits abroad to realize their own foreign policy goals. Relying on institutional and legal analysis as well as short case studies, the authors argue that while the emperor was used in foreign policy, the reverence towards the emperor made such initiatives particularly controversial. The article tries to fill the gap in research on imperial diplomacy, which has been dominated by biographical studies on individual emperors.