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Chrysanthemum Throne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Chrysanthemum Throne is the name given to the Imperial Throne of Japan. It is the oldest continuing monarchy in the world. In Nihonshoki it is said that the Empire of Japan was founded in 660 BC by Emperor Jimmu. According to tradition, Emperor Akihito is the 125th direct descendant of Jimmu. The historical record goes back to Emperor Ōjin who is stated to have reigned in the early 5th century. Despite the fact that there had previously been eight female Emperors (in Japan only the wife of an Emperor is called an Empress), under Japanese Imperial law (promulgated by the Imperial Household Agency and the Privy Council) women have been forbidden from reigning since the late 19th century.
The Emperor (Japanese: tennō; (天皇), "heavenly sovereign") acts as a high priest in the ancestral religion Shintō, although his claim to divine origin from Amaterasu was formally renounced after World War II.
Under the provisions of the current Constitution of Japan, the Emperor is a "symbol of the state and the unity of its people"; he has no real political power but is treated as the Head of State and a constitutional monarch.