Sun sets on the Emperor of Japan
JAPAN’S Emperor Akihito is to step down in April next year, marking the country’s first abdication in two centuries.
The ailing leader, aged 83, will be succeeded by his son Prince Naruhito.
PM Shinzo Abe announced the decision yesterday after a meeting of the Imperial House Council.
Japan’s parliament had passed a historic bill in June that allowed the Emperor to abdicate if he chose.
It came after Akihito said in August 2016 that his age and fitness level could make it “difficult” for him to carry out his duties in future.
The much-loved monarch has suffered from ill health in recent years and had heart surgery and treatment for prostate cancer.
Akihito said: “I started to think about the pending future.
“How I should conduct myself should it become difficult for me to carry out my heavy duties in the way I have been doing, and what would be best for the country, for the people and also for the Imperial Family members who will follow after me?” Akihito is the 125th Emperor of Japan and a direct descendant of the first, Jimmu, from around 660BC.
He has been on the throne since the death of his father Hirohito in 1989.
During his reign he has worked to improve relations across Asia, which suffered from Japan’s aggression before and during the Second World War when his father was at the helm. In 1992, Akihito became the first Japanese monarch in living memory to visit China, where bitter memories of the conflict run deep.
He “deeply deplored” an “unfortunate period in which my country inflicted great suffering on the people of China”. In 2005 he went with his
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Akihito has often urged Japan to remember the suffering of the war.
In August 2015, the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat, he gave a speech expressing “deep remorse” for his country’s actions. The emperor is a ceremonial figure in Japan.
Its constitution defines the emperor as a symbol of the state and the people without political power.
Akihito’s handover to Naruhito, 57, will mark the end of what is known as the Heisei period.