The japanese emperor seems to be bound by what historian herbert p. Bik called, you know, an ethos of restraint in the use of his power. The people at the time understood it, but i couldn't even figure out a shorthand way to describe it. One thing you can say is that by injecting a level of religious fervor and belief into this state, deliberately for state purposes, these rulers ratched up the intensity yet again. But let's imagine for a minute that instead of them being true believers, they were more cynical mongers who were just trying to make money.