Dec 23rd is a holiday in Japan to celebrate the Japanese emperor's birthday. This is the national day of Japan, which is to celebrate the nationhood of the country, like the Queen's Official Birthday in England, Independence day in the US, Canada Day in Canada, etc. Every year, on this special day in Japan, the inner grounds of the Imperial Palace opens for the general public to permit people to see the Imperial family.
This day was used to be called "Tenchosetsu (天長節)" after a word of an ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu (老子), "天長地久", which is an analogy of forever lasting things like the heaven and the earth. Japanese people have been feeling this way for so long that the lineage of Japanese Emperors is now traced back over 2000 years. The succession still strictly follows the Japan's traditional order of succession, and currently, he is the only reigning monarch with the title of Emperor remaining in the world. Unfortunately, the name "Tenchosetsu" was forced to be removed under occupation after we lost the war, but the way people feel for the Emperor seems to still remain the same.
This is not at all a common thing to do, but I carry around a key ring that has a crest of the Imperial family, the Chrysanthemum Flower Seal, embedded in it. I know this sounds very nationalistic, but I'm not trying to be. When I go outside of Japan, I easily get intimidated and become very cowardly because of many things like different languages, different cultures, etc. I just feel that the Chrysanthemum Seal encourages me to be more confident by reminding me that I'm a representative of the country. As a Japanese person, I would like to celebrate the "Tenchosetsu" today.
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