Tradition from Fiddler on the Roof except it's not actually from Fiddler on the Roof

The enthronement of Emperor Naruhito occured last week, albeit without the accompanying parade due to the typhoon. Although the enthronement ceremony is often heralded as “traditional,” the word “traditional” does not properly show the efforts of current and past emperors to embrace “modern” international approaches to many different things. Aesthetically, the ceremony is an explosion of “tradition”: the traditional wear and the very traditional-looking ceremonial procedures feel and look very “traditionally Japanese,” but using the word “tradition” in this sense only loosely describes the enthronement ceremony and does not accurately represent the imperial system as a whole. 

The enthronement ceremony and any similar ceremonial procedures may look traditional, but the actions of the Emperor fully embrace more “modern” thinking, especially concerning topics of societal diversity and tolerance. When thinking of Japan’s “traditions” as a country, one cannot forget the fact that Japan is “traditionally” culturally homogenous and not as welcoming to anything that does not fit into that “traditional” homogenous society. However, Emperor Naruhito appears to stress tolerance and societal diversity, deviating from this “traditional” and perhaps antiquated perspective. 

One of the interesting but only briefly discussed portions of the article was the fact that Empress Masako does not wish to only be valued as a womb to birth the next heir. This sort of thinking very much fits within the so-called “traditional” thinking, especially concerning the imperial family, but it is also an extremely antiquated way of thinking that Empress Masako wishes to see changed. These more “traditional” ways of thinking may be associated with the visuals of the enthronement ceremony, but that does not mean that they should be associated with the imperial family itself.