The role of the emperor in postwar Japan :|an analysis of emperor Showa’s addresses at parliament openings

Abstract

Japan has the oldest and yet still continuing monarchy in the world. Despite the change of the emperors along with Japanese history, the question remains the same: What precisely is the role of the emperor in a highly developed country with liberal democracy? This thesis will attempt to answer this continuously asked question with a discourse analysis of Emperor Showa’s addresses at the opening ceremony of the National Diet (Japanese parliament) between 1947 and 1988. By putting forward the context of the Showa emperor, one of the most controversial figures in modern times in terms of the role he is believed to have played in the decade of Japanese expansionism during WW II, this thesis will argue that the emperor is not a mere symbolic figurehead. This thesis will ultimately prove with its empirical findings that the emperor serves the collective memory of Japan possessing an integrative power and thus contributes to the stabilization of the country.