TOKYO: Emperor Akihito’s younger son, Prince Akishino, has said he expects his father to hand over all his public duties to the royal heir, Crown Prince Naruhito, after his planned abdication: the first by a Japanese monarch in nearly two centuries. Japan’s constitution defines the emperor as a
TOKYO: Emperor Akihito’s younger son, Prince Akishino, has said he expects his father to hand over all his public duties to the royal heir, Crown Prince Naruhito, after his planned abdication: the first by a Japanese monarch in nearly two centuries.
Japan’s constitution defines the emperor as a symbol of the state and the people, without political power. His duties include Shinto religious ceremonies and constitutionally-defined tasks, such as the opening of parliament.
The octogenarian Akihito’s 29-year reign has also been marked by travels to domestic disaster sites to cheer survivors, and overseas to soothe the wounds of a war fought in the name of his father, Emperor Hirohito, who was considered divine until Japan’s defeat in World War Two.
Some experts had feared that the existence of a retired emperor could undercut the symbolic status of his successor.
„The emperor all along has intended to pass all his public duties including state acts to the next emperor,“ Akishino said in remarks published to mark his 52nd birthday on Thursday.
