TOKYO, Jan 2 — Japan’s emperor is generally treated with hushed reverence, but one man stripped away all decorum — quite literally — during a New Year’s event today, local media reported.

Emperor Naruhito had finished his 2026 greeting from a balcony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo when the man in the front row in the gardens below removed his clothes, according to the reports.

He climbed over a barrier and was immediately restrained by officers from the imperial guard and Tokyo police who wrapped him in a blanket and led him away.

Investigative sources told broadcaster TBS that the man in his 20s, who was not named, had announced on social media his intention to strip naked at the annual address.

The event includes brief remarks from the emperor, who then waves to the crowd with the rest of the imperial family from the balcony.

Contacted by AFP, the imperial guard could not immediately confirm the reports.

Legend has it that the royals are descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu and can trace their lineage back thousands of years, but their divine status was renounced after World War II.

Since 1945, historians have debated to what extent Naruhito’s late grandfather Hirohito was responsible for Imperial Japan’s war of aggression in Asia.

The family now holds no political power under the post-war constitution but remains hugely symbolic. Public criticism of the institution is extremely rare. — AFP