Editing Kimigayo (section)

== Etymology ==
"''Kimi''" has been used to indicate the [[Emperor of Japan]] or one's lord (i.e., master) since at least the [[Heian period]].<ref name="Kōjien">新村出記念財団(1998). A dictionary of [[Japanese language|language]] 『広辞苑』 ("''Kōjien''"), 5th edition. Published by [http://www.iwanami.co.jp/ Iwanami Shoten, Publishers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007132110/http://iwanami.co.jp/search/index.html |date=7 October 2011 }}.</ref><ref name="Furuta">{{cite web |url=http://www.furutasigaku.jp/jfuruta/jwagakim/jwagaki1.html |script-title=ja:君が代の源流 |website=Furuta's Historical Science Association |language=ja |access-date=10 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529041318/http://www.furutasigaku.jp/jfuruta/jwagakim/jwagaki1.html |archive-date=29 May 2013 }} {{cite web |url=http://www.furutasigaku.jp/efuruta/ewagakim/ewagaki.html |title=Inside "Kimigayo" |access-date=10 May 2008 |website=Furuta's Historical Science Association |archive-date=2 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602215903/https://furutasigaku.jp/efuruta/ewagakim/ewagaki.html |url-status=live }}</ref> For example, the protagonist {{Nihongo3||光源氏|[[Hikaru Genji]]}} of ''[[the Tale of Genji]]'' is also called {{Nihongo3||光の君 {{lang|en|or}} 光君|"Hikaru no Kimi" {{lang|en|or|italic=no}} "Hikaru-gimi"}}. Before the [[Nara period]], the emperor was often called "''ohkimi''" (great lord); so it is controversial whether or not the word "''kimi''" in "''kimigayo''" had meant "emperor" originally.
"Kimi" also means "my dear" as female emperor [[Empress Genmei|Genmei]] wrote about her lover in a poem in [[Manyoshu]] (vol.1 no.78).

In the [[Kamakura period]], "Kimigayo" was used as a festive song among [[samurai]], and then became popular among the people in the [[Edo period]]. In the later part of the Edo period, "Kimigayo" was used in the [[Ōoku]] (harem of [[Edo Castle]], current [[Tokyo Imperial Palace]]) and [[Satsuma Domain|Satsuma-han]] (current [[Kagoshima Prefecture]]) as a common festive new year song. In those contexts, "''kimi''" never meant the emperor, but only the [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa shōgun]], the [[Shimazu clan]] as rulers of the Satsuma-han, guests of honour, or all members of a festive drinking party. After the [[Meiji Restoration]], samurai from Satsuma-han controlled the Imperial Japanese government, and they adopted "Kimigayo" as the national anthem of Japan. From this time until the [[Surrender of Japan|Japanese defeat]] at the [[End of World War II in Asia|end of World War II]], "Kimigayo" was understood to mean the long reign of the Emperor. With the adoption of the [[Constitution of Japan]] in 1947, the Emperor became no longer a [[Head of state|sovereign]] who ruled by [[Divine right of kings|divine right]], but a human who is a symbol of the state and of the unity of the people as a constitutional monarch.<ref name='Williams'>{{cite book |editor=Michael Williams |editor2=Graham Humphrys |title=Citizenship Education and Lifelong Learning: Power and Place |publisher=Nova Biomedical Books |year=2003 |page=126 |isbn=978-1-59033-863-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FrwMHKDPUzQC&q=kimigayo&pg=PA126 |access-date=18 October 2020 |archive-date=29 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229221402/https://books.google.com/books?id=FrwMHKDPUzQC&q=kimigayo&pg=PA126#v=snippet&q=kimigayo&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology|Ministry of Education]] did not give any new meanings for "Kimigayo" after the war; this allowed the song to mean the Japanese people. The Ministry also did not formally renounce the pre-war meaning of "Kimigayo".<ref>{{cite book|title=Nationalism: Critical concepts in political science|isbn=978-0-415-21756-9|last1=Hutchinson|first1=John|last2=Smith|first2=Anthony D.|year=2000|publisher=Taylor & Francis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gUjNKxTrju4C&q=kimigayo&pg=PA1905|access-date=18 October 2020|archive-date=29 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229221402/https://books.google.com/books?id=gUjNKxTrju4C&q=kimigayo&pg=PA1905#v=snippet&q=kimigayo&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1999, during the deliberations of the [[Act on National Flag and Anthem]], the official definition of ''Kimi'' or ''Kimi-ga-yo'' was questioned repeatedly. The first suggestion, which was given by [[Chief Cabinet Secretary]] [[Hiromu Nonaka]], stated that ''kimi'' meant the "Emperor as the symbol of Japan", and that the entire lyrics wish for the peace and prosperity of Japan. He referred to the new status of emperor as established in Article 1 of the Constitution of Japan as the main reason for these suggestions.<ref name='JPRI79'>{{cite journal|title=Japan's Neo-Nationalism: The Role of the Hinomaru and Kimigayo Legislation |journal=Japan Policy Research Institute Working Paper|date=July 2001|first=Mayumi|last=Itoh |volume=79 |url= http://www.jpri.org/publications/workingpapers/wp79.html |access-date=13 October 2010|archive-date=2 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002192508/http://www.jpri.org/publications/workingpapers/wp79.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> During the same session, [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] [[Keizō Obuchi]] ([[Obuchi Cabinet]]) confirmed this meaning with a statement on 29 June 1999:

<blockquote>"''Kimi''" indicates the Emperor, who is the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people, and whose position is derived from the consensus-based will of Japanese citizens, with whom sovereign power resides. And, the phrase "Kimigayo" indicates our State, Japan, which has the Emperor enthroned as the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people by the consensus-based will of Japanese citizens. And it is reasonable to take the lyric of "Kimigayo" to mean the wish for the lasting prosperity and peace of such country of ours.<ref name="JPRI79" /><ref name="Diet145HoR">{{cite web |author=The House of Representatives |date=1999-06-29 |url=http://kokkai.ndl.go.jp/SENTAKU/syugiin/145/0001/14506290001041c.html |title=Info of the minutes of the plenary session No.41 of the House of Representatives in the 145th Diet term |language=ja |website=National Diet Library |access-date=2008-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411201108/http://kokkai.ndl.go.jp/SENTAKU/syugiin/145/0001/14506290001041c.html |archive-date=2008-04-11}}</ref></blockquote>

Parties opposed to the [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]], which was in control of the government during Obuchi administration, strongly objected to the government's meaning of ''kimi'' and "Kimigayo". Lawmakers of the [[Democratic Party of Japan]] objected on the grounds that there was a lack of any historical ties to the meaning. The strongest critic was [[Kazuo Shii]], the chairman of the [[Japanese Communist Party|Communist Party of Japan]], who strongly claimed that "Japan" could not be derived from "Kimigayo", because the lyrics only mention wishing for the emperor to have a long reign. Shii also objected to the use of the song as the national anthem, saying that for a democratic nation, an anthem about the emperor was not appropriate.<ref name="JPRI79" />