Daijō Tennō orDajō Tennō (太上天皇) is a title for anEmperor of Japan whoabdicates theChrysanthemum Throne in favour of a successor.^[1] It is sometimes translated as "Emperor Emeritus".

As defined in theTaihō Code, although retired, aDaijō Tennō could still exert power. The first such example is theEmpress Jitō in the 7th century. A retired emperor sometimes entered the Buddhistmonastic community, becoming acloistered emperor. During lateHeian period, cloistered emperors wielded power in a system known ascloistered rule.

A total of 64 Japanese emperors have abdicated. A list follows:

CommodoreMatthew C. Perry and his squadron of what the Japanese dubbed "theBlack Ships" sailed intothe harbor atEdo (now known asTokyo) in July 1853. Perry sought to open Japan to trade, and warned the Japanese of military consequences if they did not agree.^[21] During the crisis brought on by Perry's arrival, theTokugawa shogunate took, for the first time in at least 250 years, the highly unusual step of consulting with the Imperial Court, andEmperor Kōmei's officials advised that they felt the Americans should be allowed to trade and asked that they be informed in advance of any steps to be taken upon Perry's return.^[22] Feeling at a disadvantage against Western powers, the Japanese government allowed trade and submitted to the "Unequal Treaties", giving up tariff authority and the right to try foreigners in its own courts.^[21] The shogunate's willingness to consult with the Imperial Court was short-lived: in 1858, word ofa treaty arrived with a letter stating that due to shortness of time, it had not been possible to consult. Emperor Kōmei was so incensed that he threatened to abdicate—though even this action would have required the consent of the shōgun.^[23]

Emperor Meiji wished to allow a clause codifying the right to abdicate and the formal institution of Daijō Tennō in the newMeiji Constitution. The Prime Minister refused, stating that the Emperor should be above politics, and that in the past, the role of Daijō Tennō had most definitely been employed in the opposite fashion.

In 1921, it became clear thatEmperor Yoshihito (later known by his reign name, Taishō, after death) was mentally incapacitated. In pre-modern Japan, he would have been forced to abdicate, but he was left in place and Crown Prince Hirohito (later EmperorHirohito) was madeSesshō (regent).

In 2019, then EmperorAkihito abdicated in favour of then Crown Prince Naruhito. He was the first Emperor of Japan to abdicate in modern times. He was officially given the titleJōkō (上皇) which translates to English as "Emperor Emeritus".^[24] His wife,Empress Michiko, was similarly given the titleJōkōgō (上皇后) which is equivalent to "Empress Emerita".^[24]

• Emeritus
• Taishang Huang – retired Chinese emperor
• Taesangwang – retired Korean ruler
• Retired Emperor (disambiguation)

• Brown, Delmer and Ichiro Ishida, eds. (1979). [Jien (1221)],Gukanshō; "The Future and the Past: a translation and study of the 'Gukanshō,' an interpretive history of Japan written in 1219" translated from the Japanese and edited by Delmer M. Brown & Ichirō Ishida. Berkeley:University of California Press.ISBN 0-520-03460-0
• Gordon, Andrew (2009).A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present (2nd ed.).Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-533922-2.
• Keene, Donald (2002).Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852–1912. Columbia University Press.ISBN 023112340X/ISBN 9780231123402;OCLC 46731178
• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard A. B. (1956).Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869. Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society.
• Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō (1652)],Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris:Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.--Click for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)
• Varley, H. Paul, ed. (1980). [Kitabatake Chikafusa (1359)],Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley). New York:Columbia University Press.ISBN 0-231-04940-4

• National Archives of Japan.Scroll showing procession of Emperor Kōkaku who abdicated inBunka 14 (1817)

• Ancient Japanese institutions
• Emperors of Japan
• Abdication
• Japanese emperors who abdicated

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Japanese-language text