Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2018 March 28 - April 3 [POLITICS]

JCP Kasai: Gov’t should review its plan for imperial succession ceremonies

Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission Chair Kasai Akira on March 30 said that the government should review its basic plan for next year’s imperial succession ceremonies, criticizing the plan as violating the constitutional principle of popular sovereignty.

The basic plan, which the government published earlier on the day, notes that a series of ceremonies related to the Crown Price’s enthronement will basically follow the procedures implemented in the present Emperor’s coronation in 1989 and 1990.

Kasai, citing what the JCP said at last week’s representations to the government, pointed out that the previous ceremonies were controversial from the viewpoint of the Supreme Law: some of them hinted that the Emperor is the ruler of Japan and others were based on ideology leaning to the Shinto religion. He claimed that it is wrong for the government to use these as precedents. Stating that the JCP in the same representation proposed that future ceremonies abide by the constitutional principles of popular sovereignty and the separation of religion and state. Kasai stressed that the government should explain how or whether it considered the issues raised by the JCP last week.

In addition, Kasai refuted the basic plan’s assertion that the succession ceremonies which followed the death of Emperor Showa three decades ago were carried out based on thorough deliberation under the current Constitution.

Kasai said that at that time, the government secretly drew up and decided on the outline and details of ceremonies without Diet discussions. This time, he said, all political parties and groups in the Diet should be allowed to have a chance to express their opinions and the government should work to obtain public consensus concerning this issue.

Past related articles:
> Shii: Emperor’s abdication ceremony should be held in line with constitutional principles [March 23, 2018]