Government reportedly considering law changes to allow 56-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito to ascend the throne

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Japan’s emperor will abdicate and allow his eldest son to ascend the chrysanthemum throne on New Year’s Day 2019, media reports said, as the government prepares legal changes for the country’s first abdication for two centuries.

Only a cruel despot would stop Japan’s emperor retiring | Jake Adelstein Read more

Emperor Akihito, who turned 83 last month, hinted in August that he wanted to retire after expressing concern that his age could hinder his ability to carry out ceremonial duties.

In a rare televised address, Akihito said he wanted an orderly imperial succession – cautious wording that many interpreted as a desire to abdicate.

“I am concerned it may become difficult for me to carry out my duties as the symbol of the state with my whole body and soul as I have done so far,” he said.

Abdication is not possible under current Japanese law, but last month a panel of experts said it would support special legislation to allow Akihito to step down without conditions.

Amid strong public sympathy for the emperor’s predicament, the government is drawing up measures that would see Crown Prince Naruhito to ascend the throne on 1 January 2019, Japanese newspapers said.

A panel of experts has been discussing the issue since late last year, with its official recommendations expected later this year. The government could submit a special law to parliament on abdication as early as this spring, the reports said.



Akihito said in August that 2018 would mark his 30th year on the throne, which was interpreted as his favoured moment to step down and allow the 56-year-old Naruhito to become the country’s 126th emperor.

The chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said on Tuesday he was not aware that discussions on a possible abdication had reached such an advanced stage. “The experts are prioritising lightening the emperor’s burden in their discussions and things are still at a stage where no direction has emerged,” he told a news conference.

Akihito had surgery for prostate cancer in 2003 and a heart bypass operation in 2012, and was in hospital with pneumonia in 2011.



He ascended the throne after the death in 1989 of his father, Hirohito, in whose name Japan fought the second world war Throughout his reign, Akihito and Empress Michiko, 82, have used their public roles to promote reconciliation between Japan and its former enemies.

They are planning to visit Vietnam and Thailand this spring in what would be their first overseas trip since January last year, when they travelled to the Philippines to remember soldiers and civilians who died during the war.

The last time a monarch abdicated in Japan was when Kōkaku gave up the throne in 1817.

Japan’s main opposition Democratic party opposes one-off legislation to facilitate Akihito’s abdication, arguing that the imperial household law should be revised to make living successions possible for all future monarchs.



In response, the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said last week that “politicians must demonstrate the decency not to turn the issue into political fodder”.

