Japan's next emperor must seek new role

TOKYO, June 8: Emperor Akihito's father was a wartime symbol of nationalism who became, after 1945, an emblem of defeated Japan's embrace of democracy. Akihito himself has spent nearly two decades trying to soothe the wounds of war.

The 72-year-old emperor, who left today for a three-nation Southeast Asian tour, has carved out a meaningful role despite the limits of a constitution that bans him from any involvement in politics.

But his elder son, Crown Prince Naruhito, risks becoming a symbol of modern monarchical angst unless he can find a new raison d'etre when he finally succeeds his father.

''Of all the symbolic monarchies ... none is more restricted than the Japanese. The limits around their role are so strict that it raises the question, 'What are these people supposed to do?','' said Kenneth Ruoff, author of a book recounting the transformation of Akihito's father, Hirohito, from a deity in whose name soldiers fought and died into a symbol of democracy.

Akihito and Empress Michiko, 71, first visit Singapore to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties, then travel to Malaysia before heading for Thailand on their week-long trip.

Anti-Japanese sentiment in the three countries, where many suffered from Tokyo's World War Two aggression, has mostly faded, unlike in China and the Koreas where bitter memories persist.

In Thailand, the royal pair will be among luminaries from 25 nations attending festivities in honour of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest reigning monarch.

The Thai monarch has intervened in politics just three times since ascending the throne six decades ago, most recently instructing top judges this year to sort out a political impasse sparked by protests against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Such intervention would be impossible for Akihito, whose status is defined by the 1947 constitution as a politically powerless ''symbol of the state and of the unity of the people''.

Yet Akihito has made a mark since beginning his reign in 1989 by trying to ease the burden of wartime memories that bedevil Tokyo's ties with the rest of Asia and haunt many at home. ''During the Second World War, the lives of a great many people including Japanese were lost, and this grieves my heart whenever I think back on it,'' Akihito said this week.

DOWN FROM THE CLOUDS

Akihito apologised in 1990 for Japan's often brutal colonisation of the Korean peninsula and two years later, on an historic visit to China, said he deeply deplored the ''great sufferings'' that Japan had inflicted on the Chinese people.

Akihito and Michiko also brought the monarchy closer to the people with domestic travel. They sponsored Japan's first national sports day for the disabled at a time when the physically and mentally challenged faced serious discrimination.

What sort of role Naruhito and his former diplomat wife, Masako, will carve out remains a big question.

Masako, 42, once dreamed of becoming a sort of ''royal envoy'', but has faded into the shadows, developing a stress-related mental illness from pressures to adapt to rigid palace life and to bear a male heir.

Masako and Naruhito have one child, 4-year-old Princess Aiko, but no royal boys have been born since 1965.

Plans to change the imperial succession law to allow Aiko to inherit the throne are on hold while the country waits to see if Naruhito's royal sister-in-law gives birth to a boy in September.

On several occasions Naruhito has publicly suggested the need to reform imperial duties in line with the times, mentioning the environment, welfare and education as possible new areas.

He also takes obvious pride in being a hands-on father, an attitude that could make him a role model for Japanese men trying to be closer to their children than their own workaholic dads.

Democratising the monarchy too much, however, could have its risks, said Ruoff, citing the British royals as a case in point.

''It's really cool when the monarch comes down from the clouds and reaches out to the people, but it's often not much time before the dignity of the throne gets damaged,'' he said.

REUTERS