Japan’s new Emperor has spent a symbolic night with the sun goddess in a secretive and controversial £19 million ritual.
Emperor Naruhito performed the final ritual of accession, known as the Daijosai rite, after sunset on Thursday evening, giving thanks for good harvests, praying for the peace and safety of the nation and playing host to his family’s ancestral gods.
Also known as the great thanksgiving festival, dating back 1,300 years, it is the most important succession ritual an emperor performs but is closed to the public even though it is taxpayer funded.
Amid flickering torchlight and chanting by priests, Emperor Naruhito emerged from behind the white curtains of the shrine at around 3am local time on Friday (6pm Thursday GMT), concluding a ceremony observed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and 400 dignitaries in an outdoor pavilion.
"This ritual is basically a feast involving the sun goddess and the emperor," said John Breen, a professor at Kyoto's International Research Centre for Japanese Studies, who added that most coronations have mystical elements.
"The emperor is transformed by partaking of this feast."
Observance of the ritual has prompted lawsuits from critics ranging from communists to Christians, who say it smacks of the militaristic past and violates the constitutional separation of church and state.
Persistent rumours have held that the emperor has conjugal relations with the goddess but the government and scholars say the ritual is a meal.
Preparations began months ago, after his father, Akihito, abdicated in April.
A special shrine compound within the palace grounds was constructed and, later, a harvest of rice from two fields chosen by heating a turtle shell and reading the pattern of cracks.
