The Japanese Emperor, the Tenno, is usually considered of paramount importance as a symbol of national unity and the central means of securing "loyalty and patriotism" (chukun aikoku). However, a close look at the utilization of public space in Japan since the late 19th century reveals that the Tenno was only seldom utilized as a visual symbol. After his tours of the country in the 1870s and 1880s, he is rarely seen in person; his official photographs (as the one shown below) are kept mostly invisible behind curtains and visual representations of the Tenno are hard to find.