Japan emperor's harvest rite is his 1st communion with gods

Japanese Emperor Naruhito will perform a secretive and controversial ritual Thursday, a once-in-a-reign event to give thanks for good harvests, pray for the peace and safety of the nation and play host to his family's ancestral gods.

Or at least that's what experts and officials say.

The Daijosai, or great thanksgiving festival, the most important succession ritual that an emperor performs, is closed to the public, even as taxpayer money funds it.

This aerial view shows the ritual venue called Daijokyu at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019. Japan’s Emperor Naruhito will perform his first harvest ritual since ascending to the Chrysanthemum Throne on Nov. 14, 2019. It’s called Daijosai, or great thanksgiving festival, the most important imperial ritual that an emperor performs only once in his reign. (Kenzaburo FukuharaKyodo News via AP)

It has drawn criticism as a throwback to Japan's authoritarian past and as a colossal waste of money, and provoked speculation the emperor is spending the night on a bed with a goddess.

Here's a look at the significance of the ritual and what people are saying about it:

FIRST COMMUNION WITH GODS

The ritual venue called Daijokyu is seen at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019. Japan’s Emperor Naruhito will perform his first harvest ritual since ascending to the Chrysanthemum Throne on Nov. 14, 2019. It’s called Daijosai, or great thanksgiving festival, the most important imperial ritual that an emperor performs only once in his reign. (Fumine TsutabayashiKyodo News via AP)

Daijosai marks the emperor's first communion with the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, the monarchy's mythological ancestor, and with other gods of Shinto, the religion of the imperial family. Harvest rituals originated in Japan's ancient rice growing culture from around the 7th century, historians say.

The two-part ritual, each one lasting a few hours, begins Thursday evening. Naruhito, after purifying himself and donning a white robe, will enter the Yukiden, one of two main halls at a newly prepared, and very expensive, shrine complex inside his palace. Only he can enter the innermost sanctum to present harvested rice, sake, vegetables, seafood and local produce from around the country to the goddess and gods.

Naruhito will offer arcane prayers for peace and bountiful harvests, then partake of the offerings in a symbolic communion. After a short break, he will perform the other ritual at another main hall, the Sukiden.

In this Nov. 1990, photo, then Japan's Emperor Akihito perform his harvest ritual, called Daijosai, or great thanksgiving festival at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan. Emperor Naruhito, the son of former Emperor Akihito, is set to perform his first annual harvest ritual since ascending to the Chrysanthemum Throne on Nov. 14, 2019. (Kyodo News via AP)

ONE NIGHT, $18 MILLION SHRINE

The venue, Daijokyu, is a one-off shrine complex of about 30 structures in various sizes, including the two main halls, all of which will be demolished afterward. The shrine complex alone costs about 2 billion yen ($18 million), and the whole ritual will total 2.9 billion yen ($27 million).

It's all funded by the government.

The ritual venue called Daijokyu is seen at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019. Japan’s Emperor Naruhito will perform his first harvest ritual since ascending to the Chrysanthemum Throne on Nov. 14, 2019. It’s called Daijosai, or great thanksgiving festival, the most important imperial ritual that an emperor performs only once in his reign. (Fumine TsutabayashiKyodo News via AP)

The ritual shrank when Japan was ruled by warlords and the monarchy had little money and power. There was a 200-year hiatus before it was restored during the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled from the 17th to the 19th century.

The ritual and the shrine were expanded when the pre-World War II government deified the emperor and used his status to drive Japanese aggression. The event has not been scaled down even after the emperor became a mere symbol, with no political power, under the postwar constitution, and there's been little public debate about the use of taxpayer money for the highly religious and secretive event.

Keiko Hongo, a University of Tokyo historian who was invited to speak before a government committee on the ritual, said officials wanted to cut costs of other events but not the Daijosai.

The Sukiden, center, one of two main halls is seen at ritual venue called Daijokyu at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019. Japan’s Emperor Naruhito will perform his first harvest ritual since ascending to the Chrysanthemum Throne on Nov. 14, 2019. It’s called Daijosai, or great thanksgiving festival, the most important imperial ritual that an emperor performs only once in his reign. (Fumine TsutabayashiKyodo News via AP)

WHAT'S THE BED FOR?

There's speculation about many aspects of the ritual, but especially about the presence of a bed in the main hall, and what it might be used for.

Some experts believe the emperor uses it to sleep with the sun goddess to gain divinity. Others say it's for the goddess to rest and that it's not even touched by the emperor.

"The so-called bed, as we understand it, is a sacred seat for the imperial ancestor to rest," then-Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu said before the Daijosai in 1990 was performed by former Emperor Akihito, the current emperor's father.

Officials have denied that the emperor uses the bed to gain divinity.

RELIGION AND STATE

The government's funding of the highly religious rite remains contentious.

A group of more than 200 people filed a lawsuit against the government last year, saying the ritual violates the constitutional separation of state and religion. The wartime government turned Shinto into a fascist ideology to promote its colonial aggression.

Abe's government says even though the rite is too religious to be considered an official duty of the emperor, it is an "extremely important" succession ritual for the country's hereditary monarchy written in the constitution and therefore it serves the public interest and deserves state funding. The cost is paid in the name of "palace expenses," which ordinarily cover maintenance and ceremonial spending by the palace, following a precedent set by the government at the time of the earlier event.

"There seems to be a political intention to resist (calls to stop funding the ritual) because of a sense of nostalgia for the (prewar) era," Takeshi Hara, a monarchy expert at the Open University of Japan, told a TBS radio talk show this week.

Abe's government wants the emperor to be a more authoritative figure, as he was before the end of World War II.

IMPERIAL CRITICISM

Naruhito's younger brother, Crown Prince Akishino, says he is against using public money for the ritual and that it's questionable under a constitution that separates religion and state.

"It's a royal family event, and it is highly religious," Akishino said last year. The palace budget for the Imperial family's private activities, including religious ones, was about one-seventh of the amount needed for the event. "I think the Daijosai should be held ... by making it an affordable ceremony."

His view was quickly dismissed by the government and conservatives, but widely welcomed by some palace watchers and legal experts. They say it's doable because the emperor already performs a regular annual harvest ritual in November at the palace's existing shrines.

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.

Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.

The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.

Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.

In Friday’s case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation, and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting and thus depriving some Cabinet members who were not convened of their due rights to deliberate on his decree.

Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.

Yoon’s defense team said they will appeal the ruling, which they believe was “politicized” and reflected “the unliberal arguments by the independent counsel.” Yoon’s defense team argued the ruling “oversimplified the boundary between the exercise of the president’s constitutional powers and criminal liability.”

Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.

Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.

South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.

South Korea has a history of pardoning former presidents who were jailed over diverse crimes in the name of promoting national unity. Those pardoned include strongman Chun Doo-hwan, who received the death penalty at a district court over his 1979 coup, the bloody 1980 crackdowns of pro-democracy protests that killed about 200 people, and other crimes.

Some observers say Yoon will likely retain a defiant attitude in the ongoing trials to maintain his support base in the belief that he cannot avoid a lengthy sentence but could be pardoned in the future.

On the night of Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised speech, saying he would eliminate “anti-state forces” and protect “the constitutional democratic order.” Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn’t aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon’s decree.

No major violence occurred, but Yoon's stunt caused the biggest political crisis in South Korea and rattled its diplomacy and financial markets. For many, his decree, the first of its kind in more than four decades in South Korea, brought back harrowing memories of past dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed leaders used martial law and emergency measures to deploy soldiers and tanks on the streets to suppress demonstrations.

After Yoon's ouster, his liberal rival Lee Jae Myung became president via a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to look into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.

Yoon's other trials deal with charges like ordering drone flights over North Korea to deliberately inflame animosities to look for a pretext to declare martial law. Other charges accuse Yoon of manipulating the investigation into a marine’s drowning in 2023 and receiving free opinion surveys from an election broker in return for a political favor.

A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)