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>>18446586
Symbols still retain the power to move and inspire the masses.
Turns out hyperational Apollonian ubermensch like myself who are unphased by meaningless rituals are in the minority

>>18446586
He performs rituals.

to circumvent the hardline militarists and surrender unconditionally

>>18446586
He's the Divine Heir to Amaterasu.

He was actually the ruler of the country, originally, and his rule was derived from a claim of divine heritage. This meant only his family had the right to be emperors, because only his family had the divine lineage descended from Amaterasu. So even though the imperial court got usurped by an aristocratic clan (the Fujiwaras) they had to be careful to preserve the imperial bloodline which was the basis for their claim to legitimacy.

Even the later shoguns still nominally claimed supreme power via his divine mandate. The title of shogun could only be bestowed by the emperor, and only carried weight because of the emperor's divinity. Furthermore, traditionally (which in Japan is much stronger than legally) the title of shogun was always given to a warrior descended from the imperial bloodline, usually from a disinherited imperial prince, like the Minamoto clan. Nearly all shoguns in history are Minamoto descendants, and their claim to that title is predicated on being related to the imperial family. It is not, strictly speaking, a legal requirement for a shogun to be a Minamoto, or other semi-royal samurai descendant, but in practice that's how it works. Incidentally this is also true for other upper minister positions, like Sadaijin, Udaijin, etc. Historically, these posts were held by clans like the Fujiwara who boasted imperial bloodline ties, and later by the Tairas, and eventually the Minamotos, though the Minamoto ultimately decided it was better to form their own government (the shogunate) rather than trying to hold traditional imperial court positions as others before them had.

These days the emperor is basically a figurehead. The current Japanese constitution doesn't really give him anything but a ceremonial role, the government operates without his input, but he remains a very respected figure in Japanese society. Tradition is stronger than law. The emperor's position legally is ceremonial, but his traditional position as the sovereign, remains.

>>18446586
Hes the high priest who grants divine legitimacy to the chud daimyou with the biggest army.

It's unclear how much real power the emperor ever had, because some of the earliest records we have of the imperial court indicate that his main job was as a chief shinto priest, while his ministers ran everything. Those ministers treated their government jobs like hereditary titles. The emperor technically had the authority to dismiss them or appoint new ministers, but in practice he basically never did.

Despite this, everybody was always respectful of the emperor. His position as chief priest of Amaterasu was reason enough to venerate him, but the claim of divine heritage made this reverence for him semi-religious. It's not as though the emperor was "too sacred to harm" though, emperors had been deposed, assassinated, kidnapped, and more. But the idea of the emperor is always respected, implicitly, because it's the source of all rightful authority for anyone claiming to rule Japan. Hence why they have maintained the bloodline for like 1700 years.

>>18446586
Emperor is such a tremendously bad translation of his actual role in society.

>>18446586
This, >>18446653

If the rituals ever stop then the kami would destroy the world. Amaterasu was very clear about that.

>>18446586
If you're a leader, which do you think is easier: Convincing people you're a god, or convincing people that you have god's blessing to do whatever you want? Think about it.

>>18446586
He goons to femboys and geisha while the Shogun actually controls everything

>>18446704
>assassinated
who? Only one I can think of is Antoku and that was more a killed in battle type thing
>>18447121
Japan's own fault for calling him 天皇

>>18446586
he personally sets the SEX quota of his kingdom

>>18446586
Inherently linked to Japan's national and cultural identity. Japan wouldn't be Japan without the Emperor.

>>18446586
humiliation ritual

>>18446586
To fuck woman and create harem too keep Yamato race pure in case something happens.

>>18446586
Hes basically the hereditary Pope of Japan
The early emperors tried to LARP as the Tang Dynasty and to turn Japan into a centralized mini-China. But they lost the struggle for power with the aristocracy (first court aristocracy, later samurais) and thus has been relegated into a cerimonial role for the last 11 centuries

>>18446586
divine king