The Japanese government is planning to hold a ceremony for Emperor Akihito’s envisioned abdication in December 2018, in what would…
TOKYO —
The Japanese government is planning to hold a ceremony for Emperor Akihito’s envisioned abdication in December 2018, in what would be the nation’s first such ceremony in around 200 years, government sources said Wednesday.
The last time Japan held a ceremony for an emperor’s abdication was 1817, when Emperor Kokaku relinquished the Chrysanthemum throne. The government will consider how to materialize the plan by studying documents describing ceremonial manners for abdications in the past.
The abdication ceremony is planned to be held aside from a series of enthronement ceremonies for Crown Prince Naruhito. It may be treated as a state act that requires Diet approval for conducting, the sources said.
Of Japan’s 125 emperors, including the sitting 83-year-old, 58 have so far abdicated. But Japanese legislation currently only allows posthumous abdication.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government is now mulling legal changes to enable Emperor Akihito to hand over the throne to Crown Prince Naruhito, 57, following the emperor’s rare video message last summer indicating his desire to step down due to his advanced age.
While the timing of the abdication has not been formally decided, the government is considering December 2018, apparently having in mind the emperor’s 85th birthday on Dec. 23 that year.
The Heisei era, which designates the reign of the sitting emperor, is expected to last till the end of that year, and a new era under his first son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will begin on the first day of 2019, according to the sources.
