Comments on: Japan: Volunteer efforts and the Emperor’s Visit http://japanlifeandreligion.com/2011/04/14/japan-volunteer-efforts-and-the-emperors-visit/ My life as a father, Buddhist, Japanophile and Koreaphile. Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:50:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Doug 陀愚 http://japanlifeandreligion.com/2011/04/14/japan-volunteer-efforts-and-the-emperors-visit/#comment-5973 Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:02:38 +0000 http://japanlifeandreligion.com/?p=11246#comment-5973 Hi Robert, excellent point. I will amend that in the blog post. In the news segment they did refer to the current emperor as 陛下 (the Empress as 后皇) and I’ve been corrected by my better-half about it before but now that mention it, I don’t think I heard the name Heisei used, so I think you’re right.

It’s a subject I don’t know too well so this time I opted to leave most details out and stick with what I directly observed. Probably advice I should follow more often. :-)

]]> By: Robert http://japanlifeandreligion.com/2011/04/14/japan-volunteer-efforts-and-the-emperors-visit/#comment-5971 Fri, 15 Apr 2011 09:42:43 +0000 http://japanlifeandreligion.com/?p=11246#comment-5971 It may be a case of “citation needed”.
While it is now the Heisei era, I don’t think the Emperor will properly be referred to as 平成天皇 until after his death. (Although the practice is fairly recent starting with the Meiji Emperor. It is possible that something else could be chosen.)
I couldn’t find an authoritative source or style guide, however the Imperial Household site only uses 天皇陛下 and in a reference in English to his father they say “Emperor Hirohito (posthumously Emperor Showa)” and refer to the current Emperor in English as Emperor Akihito, from which we might infer correct usage. But yes never 明仁天皇.
Doing a quick google, to my eyes more often than not 平成天皇 seems either a disrespectful usage in Japanese (uncyclopedia and various political rants in comment threads for instance), or a usage in Chinese. 明仁天皇 is used in Chinese and also ranks high as a book title on amazon.jp strangely enough. Overall I think the Imperial household can be a sensitive subject.

]]> By: Doug 陀愚 http://japanlifeandreligion.com/2011/04/14/japan-volunteer-efforts-and-the-emperors-visit/#comment-5967 Thu, 14 Apr 2011 22:06:46 +0000 http://japanlifeandreligion.com/?p=11246#comment-5967 Hi Robert, interesting point. I am not sure why they have that inconsistency. In Japanese language itself, you never hear people say “Akihito Tennō”, it’s usually either “Tennō Heika” or “Heisei Tennō”. Also, the traditional calendar shows this year to be Heisei 22, and the Emperor hasn’t passed away yet, so I wonder if Wikipedia is wrong. :)

]]> By: Robert http://japanlifeandreligion.com/2011/04/14/japan-volunteer-efforts-and-the-emperors-visit/#comment-5966 Thu, 14 Apr 2011 22:04:06 +0000 http://japanlifeandreligion.com/?p=11246#comment-5966 Hi Doug. Interesting post as always.
One thing. I thought that the era name was only used posthumously for the Emperor. (the wikipedia article you point to also states this) The English style is to say Emperor Akihito. (Japanese Newspapers such as Mainichi Shinbun do this in their translations and use 天皇陛下 in the Japanese version)

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