TOKYO — The divine origins of Japan’s imperial family come under scrutiny as it allows limited access to two burial sites. Japan’s imperial household agency is to open the doors to some of the country’s mysterious imperial tombs early next year after decades of pressure from archaeologists, in a move expected to anger ultra-conservatives. Experts have long been denied access to the hundreds of imperial mausoleums and tombs, which the agency regards as not so much cultural relics as sacred religious sites. Some historians, however, put the agency’s reticence down to fears that close inspection of the burial mounds could unearth evidence that shatters commonly accepted theories about the origins of the Japanese imperial family. Members of archaeological and historical societies will be granted limited access to two tombs in February and March, the Kyodo news agency said, quoting imperial household sources. Excavation work will be prohibited and researchers will be permitted to enter only the tombs’ fringes. The mausoleums are those of the Meiji emperor (1852-1912) and Empress Jingu (170-269), wife of the Emperor Chuai, whose date of birth is unknown. While the move by the agency – the opaque bureaucracy that runs the […]