King Charles has been taking tips from the JAPANESE on how to run a coronation

The only other nation in the world that comes close to a traditional British coronation is Japan.

So when, as Prince of Wales, Charles travelled there to witness imperial enthronements not once but twice, we can be in no doubt he was watching closely.

And it looks as though the Japanese way of doing things might have influenced both the guest list – which, as we now know, includes a number of crowned heads of state – and the wider plans for King Charles’s own Coronation on May 6.

The first enthronement he saw was in 1990 when, accompanied by Princess Diana, Charles watched the ceremonies for Emperor Akihito. 

Almost three decades later, Akihito – now in ill-health – abdicated, his son Aruhito became Emperor, and in 2019 Charles travelled to Tokyo once again.

Empress Masako at the harvest ritual, a secretive part of the enthronement ceremony. Prince Charles and an aide were said to have been watching closely with his Coronation impending

Prince Charles attended two Japanese enthronements, the first in 1990 with wife Diana

King Charles, seen here at the Accession Council before the Proclamation . He has considered how to bring his own Coronation up-to-date and has looked to Japan for inspiration

It is significant that another royal guest, Michael Fawcett, was also there by Prince Charles’s side. And not just any guest: Fawcett was one of Prince Charles’s closest aides at the time, sometimes described as his eyes and ears.

A source who has observed the Royal Family at close quarters for years told me directly that: ‘Fawcett was there because he was doing a “recce”, finding out how the Japanese did an event like that.’

It is thought that Charles had been particularly impressed by the combination of ancient and modern in Naruhito’s Enthronement, and that, as King Charles III, he will aim to reflect something similar in May. 

Like a British coronation, the Enthronement is an ancient ceremony – the same family has held the Chrysanthemum Throne for 1500 years.

The Japanese emperor retains strong connections to the Shinto religion and some Japanese still say that he is a living god despite American efforts to ban the claim at the end of the Second World War.

Japan holds three ceremonies for its new monarch: two immediately after accession and the third a few months later, to allow plenty of time for planning.

There is a special ceremony acknowledging the accession, followed by a meeting between the new emperor and political leaders and citizens’ representatives – akin to when King Charles met the Accession Council two days after his mother, Elizabeth II, died and a formal Proclamation was issued.

It is the imperial enthronement which is the most spectacular of the Japanese ceremonies, and Naruhito’s attracted royalty from around the globe, as well as dignitaries and diplomats from 183 countries.

The enthronement had plenty in common with a British coronation: special clothes worn by the new monarch, religious rituals, blessings bestowed on the monarch, the taking of oaths – and all in front of 2,000 guests.

Key to the ceremony in Tokyo, just as it is in Westminster, is a throne.

Called the Sokuirei-Seiden-no-gi, the first enthronement ceremony for Naruhito took place in the Matsu-no-Ma state room at the Imperial Palace, Tokyo, where the Emperor, clothed in a traditional rust-coloured robe, stood on the platform of the elaborately tented Takamikura throne.

Japanese Emperor Naruhito, in a distinctive head dress with an upright ‘tail’ takes part in the enthronement ritual at the Imperial Sanctuaries in the Imperial Palace, Tokyo, in 2019

Queen Elizabeth sits in St Edward’s chair as she prepares for the ceremony of the anointing. The canopy would soon be brought forward and lowered to hide her from view. Both Japanese enthronements and British coronations include highly sacred – and secret – elements 

Foreign monarchs are invited to Japanese enthronements, in contrast with British coronations. Charles is seen here in Tokyo with Crown Prince Mary and Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark

Queen Elizabeth, newly crowned, in Westminster Abbey in 1953. Her son has made significant changes to the ceremony, which will be shorter and more representative of the population

King Carl Gustav and Queen Silvia of Sweden (left) and King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan were among the foreign royals invited to the Enthronement of Naruhito in 2019. Will foreign monarchs be invited to Charles’s Coronation?

Naruhito, who also wore a black headdress decorated with an upright tail, appeared after a pair of black-robed chamberlains opened the purple curtains of the throne at the sound of a bell. 

Just as Queen Camilla will be involved in Charles’ coronation, Naruhito’s wife Masako was present, standing nearby, on a shorter throne, where she was wearing a multi-layered kimono as tradition also dictates.

Naruhito then made his oath, saying: ‘I hereby swear that I will act according to the constitution and fulfil my responsibility as the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people of Japan, while always praying for the happiness of the people and the peace of the world as I always stand with the people.’

A sword and a jewel, two of the three items that symbolise Imperial status, were placed on a table close to him.

His pledges were followed by a speech of congratulation by the Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and ‘banzai’ cheers from the attendees, including Prince Charles.

If this ceremony had similarities with the British coronation, so did the highly religious ritual of the Grand Harvest.

Known as the Daijosai, it took place a month later and is considered the most important ritual of the imperial succession. It involves giving thanks, prayers and connection to the Imperial Family’s ancestral gods.

Newly crowned,  a young Queen Elizabeth faces her subjects from the Buckingham Palace balcony. Britain is much changed since 1953, however, and the May Coronation will reflect that

The Queen’s eighteenth century Gold State Coach rolls past huge crowds in Regent Street. The Palace has been looking for ways to engage a modern public for the May 6 Coronation and is understood to be looking at Japan for inspiration

The Japanese have huge respect for their Emperor and some revere him as a god. Here  visitors queue to sign a greeting book marking the 30th anniversary of Akihito’s enthronement

What did Charles learn from his visits to Japan? How to balance ancient traditions and modern life might be one answer.

A Japanese enthronement effectively consists of two ceremonies, a more secular one and a religious one.

It is a way of the Japanese nodding to new as well as old, a wish that is evident in the plans so far outlined by the Palace.

The May Coronation is promoting celebrations of contemporary life up and down the country,  in contrast with the spectacular but deeply religious ceremony taking place inside Westminster Abbey.

KINGS AND QUEENS BUT NO CROWNS…

There was no coronation for Queen Maxima of The Netherlands

Great Britain is the only European nation to stage coronations.

Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium all have kings and queens. 

Meanwhile, Andorra, Lichtenstein, and  Monaco are principalities. Luxembourg is a dukedom. 

Yet none of them have crowning ceremonies. Some never had them. Others abandoned Coronations in the Middle Ages.

You have to go back to 1906 for the last full coronation outside Britain, when the King of Norway was crowned – and to 1928 for a European ceremony of any similar kind. 

Although not actually crowned, King Zog of Albania swore an oath on both the Bible and the Koran.

Today, most European monarchies have swearing-in ceremonies before their parliaments.

Has there also been a lesson from the Japanese guest list?

In contrast with British coronations, royalty from around the world attends Japanese enthronements

Crowned heads and reigning monarchs had not traditionally been invited to coronations for fear of overshadowing the new King or Queen.

As first revealed in The Mail on Sunday, however, King Charles is breaking with tradition and inviting European royals, Arab heads of state and others including the Sultan of Brunei to the Abbey on May 6.

Those who have accepted so far include King Felipe and Queen Letitzia of Spain, King Carl Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.

Japan is sending Emperor Naruhito’s brother,  Crown Prince Fumihito.

Charles will have noticed plenty of things that might have seemed familiar, on his visits to Tokyo.

Some aspects of the Grand Harvest ritual, for example, bear comparison with the Coronation’s most sacred moments of anointing and communion.

It is held in private, just as previous British coronations have kept the moment of anointing private – and King Charles’s looks set to continue with that tradition. Only certain assistants are privy to what happens to the Emperor, just as only a very few clergy are witness to the coronation anointing beneath a canopy.

There are prayers in both rituals. There is Communion in the coronation ceremony using the traditional bread and wine of the Anglican Eucharist, and in the Japanese one the Emperor partakes in offerings of rice, sake, vegetables and seafood.

Another  similarity is that it is funded by the state and, despite some debate as to whether it should be, the Japanese government insists that it is important to keep backing it. The hereditary monarchy is written in the constitution and so serves the public interest.

The Emperor’s enthronement didn’t come cheap. Japanese journalists estimated that it cost 16.6 billion Yen – the equivalent of £96 million – and was picked up by the Japanese government.

It’s a figure that is uncannily similar to the estimates for Charles’ coronation in May, with the Operation Golden Orb committee, which was instrumental in planning it over the years, calculating it might cost £100 million when they took into consideration policing and tight security for VIPs from around the world.

The Japanese model shows that in a modern country there is still space for tradition: if the coronation is a dramatic spectacle. Moreover, it will appeal to a contemporary culture where the visual is all. 

The Japan experience also shows that two ceremonies, one religious, one secular, can work together happily

A paperback edition of Catherine Pepinster’s Defenders of the Faith – the British Monarchy, Religion and the Coronation, with new chapters, is out now