<P> The role of the Emperor of Japan has historically alternated between a largely ceremonial symbolic role and that of an actual imperial ruler . Since the establishment of the first shogunate in 1192 , the Emperors of Japan have rarely taken on a role as supreme battlefield commander , unlike many Western monarchs . Japanese Emperors have nearly always been controlled by external political forces , to varying degrees . In fact , between 1192 and 1867 , the shoguns , or their shikken regents in Kamakura ( 1203 -- 1333 ) , were the de facto rulers of Japan , although they were nominally appointed by the Emperor . After the Meiji Restoration in 1867 , the Emperor was the embodiment of all sovereign power in the realm , as enshrined in the Meiji Constitution of 1889 . His current status as a figurehead dates from the 1947 Constitution . </P>
<P> The role of the Emperor of Japan has historically alternated between a largely ceremonial symbolic role and that of an actual imperial ruler . Since the establishment of the first shogunate in 1192 , the Emperors of Japan have rarely taken on a role as supreme battlefield commander , unlike many Western monarchs . Japanese Emperors have nearly always been controlled by external political forces , to varying degrees . In fact , between 1192 and 1867 , the shoguns , or their shikken regents in Kamakura ( 1203 -- 1333 ) , were the de facto rulers of Japan , although they were nominally appointed by the Emperor . After the Meiji Restoration in 1867 , the Emperor was the embodiment of all sovereign power in the realm , as enshrined in the Meiji Constitution of 1889 . His current status as a figurehead dates from the 1947 Constitution . </P>
when did the emperor of japan lose power
when did the emperor of japan lose power
the 1947 Constitution
the 1947 Constitution