Enthronement 2019 February 16, 2020

Last year my home country Japan welcomed the new emperor.  Emperor Akihito, the 125^th Emperor of Japan, abdicated on April 30^th, and his son, Throne Prince Naruhito, ascended to the Throne the next day.  This was the first time in 202 years since the last imperial abdication took place in Japanese history, and now there are the Emperor and the Emperor Emeritus co-existing in the nation.  (I wrote an article about this historic event in April 2019 Newsletter.  Click here to read it.)

There were a series of ceremonies for the Enthronement of the 126^th Emperor of Japan, Naruhito, throughout 2019.  Here are some snapshots to share with you.

 

Emperor Naruhito, accompanied by Empress Masako, gave his first speech as an emperor in front of the representatives of the people at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on May 1^st shortly after the Ascension Ceremony.

 

 

 

 

The Proclamation Ceremony, the most notable of all, took place on October 22^nd in the Palace in front of 1999 guests, the foreign and domestic dignitaries.  There were two structures, Takamikura and Kichodai, that the Emperor and the Empress resided during the Ceremony respectively.  They were eight-sided buildings, about 22- and 18-foot high, that always remind me of gazeboes I see around here.  The form of the structure has been in use since the 8^th Century for the imperial enthronement.  These particular two buildings were built in 1913 for the Enthronement of Emperor Taisho, Emperor Naruhito’s great-grandfather.  They were broken down into smaller pieces and brought from the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, then put back together for the Ceremony in Tokyo.

 

Emperor Naruhito wore the Kourozen-no-gohou, the robe made with the fabric in the color that is permitted to be worn only by an emperor.  The use of the robe of this kind was first noted in the late 8^th Century.  Here in this image Emperor Naruhito is standing in Takamikura with the text of the Proclamation in his hands.  The Imperial Treasures he inherited as the proofs of the throne are placed beside him.

 

Empress Masako dressed in the 12-layered kimono with the traditional hair piece.  The style of this costume was also established in the late 8^th to 9^th Century.

 

 

 

Motorcade Parade was planned to immediately follow the Proclamation Ceremony first.  But Typhoon Hagibis left devastating damage to the wide areas of Japan just before the Ceremony.  The Administration decided to prioritize the rescue effort by rescheduling the Parade to be on November 10^th.  The procession took about 30 minutes in central Tokyo from the Imperial Palace to the Emperor’s residence, the Akasaka Estate.

 

---

All images courtesy of NHK, Nippon Hoso Kyokai (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)

A Decade February 15, 2020

Last year as the year 2020 approached, I started to hear “the end” and “the beginning” of a decade.  Just let me make it clear: year 2020 is NOT a beginning of a new decade.  This is, on the contrary, the last year of the decade that started in 2011.

When we count numbers, we always start from 1 – one, NOT 0 – zero.  The same applies to the numbering of years.  The first year of any set of years; such as decades, centuries, millennia, always starts with ONE.  

I wrote a very similar article in our old print newsletter in December 1999.  If you are curious about what it was, click here to read it.  If you remember this article, you must be with us for a long time!

 

Year 2000

So much has been talked about it, but we dare to put a small note here.

The Year 2000 is NOT the beginning of the new century OR millennium.  The coming century and millennium will not start until January 1 of 2001, and this is why.

When we look back in history, the numbering of years is … 3 BC, 2 BC, 1 BC.  The year then after 1 BC is 1 AD.  That is, there is no year ZERO in between.  This means that the beginning of a century, as well as a millennium, is always a year with a “1” NOT a “0.”  Thus, the year 2000 is the last year of this century and millennium, not a new beginning yet.  However, the fact that the first digit of the year is about to change from “1” to “2” surely makes us feel like something is coming, doesn’t it?

We wish you all a great and prosperous year 2000!

(If you are curious, there is a similar article in the “Farmer’s Almanac” so please peek.)

Original article appeared in the Fall 1999 Issue of the Trillium Ridge Times, a print newsletter of Thorpe Vineyard.