<論説>講和条約期における天皇退位問題 : 明仁皇太子の登場と講和独立を背景として

Abstract

サンフランシスコ講和条約期になると、天皇退位論が再浮上した。その議論の特徴は二つある。第一に、敗戦後一貫して主張されてきた天皇の「道徳」的責任論を引き継いでいたことである。天皇は日本という国家の「道徳」を示す存在と考えられ、天皇が退位という「道徳」的行為を行えば人々はその姿に感動し、象徴天皇制はより強力な支持を得ると考えられた。それは「一君万民」「君民一体」を目指す動きだったと言える。 第二に、「新生日本」の国家像と適合的な皇太子が戦争イメージを持つ天皇よりも選択され、その結果退位が主張されたことである。マスコミが清新な若いイメージで皇太子を捉えて大々的に報道したことが背景にあった。「新生日本」の目指す国家像と象徴天皇像は接合され、国家としての再出発の時期に天皇制も再出発すべきであるとして退位が主張された。結局退位は実現しなかったものの、講和条約期の退位論は、象徴天皇制／像の展開の中で皇太子の存在が浮上するきっかけとなった。

The problem of the abdication of the Emperor re-surfaced during the period of the peace treaty. There were two characteristic features of the reemergence of the problem. The first characteristic was that it would be a continuation of the effort to pursue the "moral" responsibility of the Emperor that had been consistently advocated since the defeat. The Emperor was considered the embodiment of the "morality" of the Japanese state, and it was thought that if the Emperor performed the "moral act" of abdication, the public would be impressed by his figure, and the symbolic emperor system would be strengthened. This move can be termed an attempt to create "an emperor for all the people, " ikkun banmin 一君万民 and to assure the "unity of emperor and people, " kunmin ittai 君民一体. The second characteristic involved the image of the "New Japan" 新生日本 which was linked to that of the Crown Prince, whose image was preferred to that of the emperor who was associated with the war. As a result the abdication was advocated. Behind this was the fact that the mass media reported extensively on the Crown Prince, creating a fresh and youthful image. The national image of a "New Japan" was welded to the image of the symbolic emperor, and abdication was advocated as the fresh start required of both the emperor system and the state. Although the abdication was not carried out in the end, the problem of the abdication during the period of the peace treaty became the cause of the emergence of the Crown Prince in the development of the system and image of a symbolic emperor.