The firing of shots into the home of a Christian university president has been linked to his involvement in a call for the government to reconsider its role in upcoming enthronment ceremonies for Emperor Akihito.
On April 22 two shots were fired into the home of Yuge Toru, 66, president of Ferris College for Women. The bullets passed through the window of the study where he was sitting, but he was unharmed.
The attack followed the release of a statement signed by the presidents of four Christian universities, including Yuge, which criticized government involvement in the emperor´s enthronement ceremony scheduled for Nov. 10 and the more controversial Daijosai (Great Thanksgiving Ceremony) set for Nov. 18.
The statement urged the government "to make a clear distinction between the provisions of the present constitution, which defines the emperor as the symbol of state, and the former system of divine imperial sovereignty."
The four described the Jan. 19 announcement of enthronement ceremonies as having been made without "due reflection and discussion even though there is room to doubt their legality under the present constitution which declares sovereignty to rest with the people."
The university presidents said the Daijosai is particularly disturbing because it has been acknowledged as the moment "which transforms the emperor into a living god, an idea declared baseless by the late Emperor Hirohito in his New Year´s address some 44 years ago."
To hold such a ceremony, they conclude, will be not only an infringement on the separation of state and religion, but also a cause of suspicion among "those neighboring countries to which Japan, under the guise of imperial divine sovereignty, brought such tremendous suffering."
The statement was also signed by Tsuge Kazuo, Watanabe Yasuo and Fukuda Kanichi, presidents of Kwansei Gakuin University, International Christian University, and Meiji Gakuin University respectively.
-- This is not the first act of violence against critics of Japan´s emperor system. Nagasaki´s Catholic Mayor Hitoshi Motoshima was seriously wounded by a right-wing gunman last Jan. 18, after publicly saying that the late Emperor Hirohito shared responsibility for Japan´s involvement in World War II.
Meanwhile Japan´s National Christian Council established the Center for Signature Collection Against Daijosai, which has organized protests and signature petitions condemning government involvement in what it describes as a Shinto religious ceremony.
END
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