Japan's Emperor Naruhito Photo: IC

In the chill pre-dawn hours of Friday, Japan's Emperor Naruhito emerged from a shrine compound where he had spent a symbolic night with the sun goddess from whom conservatives believe his family descends, completing the rituals of his accession.

The Daijosai rite, centered on the goddess Amaterasu Omikami, began soon after sunset on Thursday and is the most overtly religious of all the rituals around Naruhito's succession.