Imperial countenance; face of the Emperor
Honorific term for the face of the Japanese Emperor. Used in formal or historical contexts; not for ordinary people.
At the audience, I was granted the honor of seeing the Imperial countenance.
Standard kanji form using the simplified 竜 character.
Traditional kanji form using 龍; also valid but less common in modern Japanese.
A Sino-Japanese imperial expression modeled on Chinese 龍顔, literally “dragon countenance.” The dragon traditionally symbolized the sovereign, so the compound denoted the emperor’s face.