Prior to Japan’s surrender in 1945, Emperor Hirohito enjoyed sovereign authority over his people. This relationship was inverted during the Allied Occupation with the introduction of popular sovereignty, granting the Japanese people power to decide whether or not to retain the throne. To understand how the imperial institution adapted to this postwar framework, many scholars focus on the use of mass media by the palace leadership, which transformed Hirohito into a likable celebrity figure eliciting popular approval. This article supplements the media-centered narrative through an examination of the Imperial Household Ministry’s adaptation of the imperial portrait (goshin’ei)—a prewar/wartime symbol of emperor-centered ideology— in the immediate postwar years. The analysis offered here contextualizes these efforts by considering the ministry leadership’s conservative agenda of protecting Hirohito, his prewar/wartime form of emperorship, and their own administrative independence. The success of their efforts is shown by the fact that today the imperial portrait has a place in Japanese society, offering particular groups a means to endorse the imperial institution without inviting public criticism.

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