Mutsuhito Succeeds and Is Formally Enthroned

Mutsuhito succeeded Emperor Kōmei on the ninth day of the first month of the Japanese calendar in 1867. Yoshinobu still held the shogunal office. Accession supplied a new sovereign; the restoration government was established later, through decisions by courtiers and domain leaders in his name.

Formal enthronement followed at Kyoto’s Shishinden on October 12, 1868. The ceremony announced the succession publicly through imperial appearance, offerings, proclamation and the assembled officials’ homage. It adopted Japanese ceremonial elements and a globe as an expression of interest in the wider world.

War continued in northeastern Japan. Limited money and preparation time constrained new furnishings, so an existing imperial dais substituted for the throne destroyed in the 1854 fire. Wet ground also required officials’ positions to move from the courtyard into covered areas. These practical arrangements accompanied a solemn declaration of sovereignty. Succession, enthronement and military consolidation took place on different schedules, with the emperor’s presence serving a government whose work extended beyond the ceremony.