He exercised power, ruling indirectly from the Shirakawa-in ("White River Mansion/Temple"); nevertheless, nominal sesshō and kampaku offices continued to exist for a long time.
As there was no official English translation of the title of Jōkō previously, the Imperial Household Agency decided to define it as "Emperor Emeritus".
[20] Commodore Matthew C. Perry and his squadron of what the Japanese dubbed "the Black Ships" sailed into the harbor at Edo (now known as Tokyo) in July 1853.
[21] During the crisis brought on by Perry's arrival, the Tokugawa shogunate took, for the first time in at least 250 years, the highly unusual step of consulting with the Imperial Court, and Emperor Kōmei's officials advised that they felt the Americans should be allowed to trade and asked that they be informed in advance of any steps to be taken upon Perry's return.
[22] Feeling at a disadvantage against Western powers, the Japanese government allowed trade and submitted to the "Unequal Treaties", giving up tariff authority and the right to try foreigners in its own courts.
The Prime Minister refused, stating that the Emperor should be above politics, and that in the past, the role of Daijō Tennō had most definitely been employed in the opposite fashion.