Leaders Gather to See Akihito’s Rise to Throne

Royalty, heads of state and special envoys from 158 nations gathered in Tokyo to attend a stiff, 30-minute ceremony today in which Japan’s Emperor Akihito announces to the world his accession to the ancient Chrysanthemum Throne.

It is the first such ceremony in 62 years.

Underscoring the tense atmosphere surrounding Akihito’s enthronement, left-wing extremists fired homemade rockets at three military bases around Tokyo early today and set fires at three suburban train stations, police said. There were no injuries or serious damage reported in the incidents, although train service was temporarily disrupted.

Also, two small bombs exploded harmlessly Sunday evening outside the residence of U.S. Consul General Gregory Johnson in Nishinomiya, near Kobe in western Japan. Two men on a motorcycle were seen driving away from the scene, apparently after lobbing the bombs over a wall.

It was not immediately clear whether the bombing at Johnson’s home was directly related to protests against enthronement ceremonies in Tokyo. Police said they found what appeared to be an explosive device at a nearby Shinto shrine.

Authorities have put in place stringent security measures--involving the deployment of an unprecedented special force of about 37,000 police officers nationwide--to guard against terrorism by leftist radicals opposing the emperor system.

A bomb blast Nov. 1 at a police dormitory in Tokyo killed one police officer and injured six others. Anti-emperor radicals were blamed for that blast and for a number of arson incidents and homemade rocket attacks against Shinto shrines and imperial family targets since the beginning of the year.

About 500 foreign dignitaries, including Vice President Dan Quayle and Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana, were expected to assemble at the Imperial Palace today to watch as Akihito, 56, goes through a state-sponsored rite, the first of two major enthronement ceremonies. The second, more controversial and religious in nature, will take place Nov. 22-23 without foreign guests.

Akihito technically became emperor when his father, Hirohito, died at the age of 87 on Jan. 7, 1989. But centuries-old tradition dictates that an official year of mourning must pass, followed by a full season to plant and harvest a crop of sacred rice, before the new emperor can be formally enthroned.

Today’s Sokui-no-rei ceremony marks the beginning of a $94-million, 10-day period of ceremonies and court banquets celebrating the accession, culminating in the mysterious Daijo-sai--an all-night ritual of communion with the Sun Goddess. The latter rite is interpreted by many critics and imperial loyalists alike as symbolizing the deification of the emperor as the tribal patriarch of the Japanese people.

What foreign dignitaries will witness today is a secularized event that was, until the end of the last century, conducted in the style of a Chinese court ritual. Akihito will mount a canopied, 31-foot-tall, black lacquered throne called the Takamikura wearing reddish-brown imperial robes. By his side, Empress Michiko--the first commoner to marry into the imperial line--will sit atop a smaller throne, also in traditional court dress.

The courtyard before the emperor and empress will be busy with colored banners--sanitized by officials of any religious symbols--and rows of functionaries in traditional garb bearing swords and bows. As many as 2,500 guests will be arrayed in nearby halls and on verandas around the courtyard, straining for a glimpse inside the Seiden, as the throne room is called.

When Hirohito was enthroned as emperor in 1928--the last time such a ceremony was held--the Japanese premier addressed him from a lowly position in the courtyard. But this time, reflecting Akihito’s postwar status as a mere “symbol” of authority, Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu will offer congratulatory remarks from the floor of the Seiden. At the climax of the televised ceremony, Kaifu will lead the nation in three cheers of “Banzai!”

Foreign guests are not expected to join in this cheer, which literally means “may you live 10,000 years” but is still widely associated overseas with maniacal devotion to Emperor Hirohito during World War II.

Nearby, in a park adjacent to the Imperial Palace, a Self-Defense Forces artillery unit will fire a 21-gun salute to the emperor.

Akihito will change into a tail coat before an imperial motorcade takes him through central Tokyo en route to the Akasaka Palace, where he resides. The emperor and empress will host seven court banquets for 3,500 guests through Thursday.

An imperial amnesty for 2.5 million lawbreakers--mostly traffic offenders and election law violators--will coincide with the enthronement. Today is a national holiday, and many Tokyo residents are taking advantage of the three-day weekend to travel outside the city.