A new horizon: pray for Reiwa
We have a unique window of opportunity to pray for the Emperor and Japan prior to his deification ceremony to be held in November
On April 30, 2019, Akihito, Japan’s emperor for 30 years, formally announced his abdication. He is the first Japanese monarch to abdicate in two centuries.
It’s well known that historically the Japanese people have believed their emperor is a god. According to tradition, Emperor Jimmu (“Divine Warrior”), said to be a direct descendent of the sun goddess Amaterasu,1 became the country’s first emperor in 660 BC.
Crown Prince Naruhito, the eldest son of former Emperor Akihito, assumed the throne on May 1, 2019 ushering in the Reiwa Era. But the enthronement ceremony will not be complete until a deification, or thanksgiving, ceremony called Daijōsai (literally “big harvest festival”), scheduled for November 14-15, 2019, has been concluded.
Unprecedented opportunity
One of the keys to opening the door to Christianity in Japan is the person of the emperor, whose deification could be linked to the nation’s many spiritual strongholds. Likewise, there may be a correlation between the lifting of imperial deification and the freedom of the gospel.
This event represents an unprecedented window of opportunity in the “Land of the Rising Sun.” By praying for and sharing Christ with the Japanese, believers can have a part in ushering in a spiritual awakening that the country hasn’t seen since Jesuit missionaries brought the gospel to Japan in the 16th century. More than 300,000 Japanese embraced Christianity at that time.2 But Christianity was banned in 1614, Christians were heavily persecuted, and thousands were executed.
To understand Japan’s resistance to the gospel, I believe we may need to look at the emperor’s enthronement ceremony. Traditionally, the incoming Japanese emperor performs a secret ritual in which he contacts his dead ancestors, announces to them his ascendancy, and invites them to enter into him. The ceremony also unites the emperor with the sun goddess. It is said that he leaves the ritual possessing divine qualities.3
God’s time for Japan?
I believe this is God’s time to reclaim Japan from centuries of spiritual oppression. He has clearly told us: “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, [pastors and missionaries] too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ” (Col. 4:2–3 NIV).
Let’s unite our hearts and persevere in the spiritual battle over Japan—to come “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12).
Matthew 16:19 says: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” God gives us authority to bind the spirits that are invoked during the deification ceremony and to release his Spirit of truth, holiness, and redemption over Japan.
The importance of prayer in seeing God work in situations and people cannot be overemphasized. We are especially called to pray for those who are in leadership. Every day they are called on to make decisions that affect the lives of many. Paul reminds us that we should pray and lift up “kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Tim. 2:2). With the deification ceremony scheduled for this November, let’s pray for an overwhelming outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Japanese people. Considering what we’ve learned above, some of you may feel led to pray that the deification ceremony will not take place at all. Let’s trust God to work in ways that far surpass the horizons of our imaginations in this land of the Risen Son.
1. Takamitsu Kōnoshi and Minako Ōba 神野志隆光 大庭みな子 Shinchō Koten Bungaku Arubamu 1 Kojiki Nihon Shoki 新潮古典文学アルバム.
2. Nihon Daihyakka Zensho 2001 vol. 7 日本大百科全書2001 7 [Encyclopedia Nipponica 2001 vol. 7] (Tōkyō: Shōgakukan, 1986), 124–127.
3. Nihon Daihyakka Zensho 2001 vol. 14 日本大百科全書2001 14 [Encyclopedia Nipponica 2001 vol. 14] (Tōkyō: Shōgakukan, 1987), 413.