Emperor Akihito is the first Japanese leader to abdicate in two centuries – but what happens when he is gone? There will be a new dawn in the land of the rising sun as the emperor’s son is expected to continue his father’s legacy

At noon on 15 August 1945, just days after the US atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the then Japanese emperor Hirohito broadcast a surrender speech over the radio.

It was the first time he had been heard on the airwaves, and the so-called “Jewel Voice Broadcast” shocked the embattled Japanese, who revered him as an infallible, living god. But it was also baffling: the emperor spoke in formal, archaic Japanese that few ordinary people could understand. He was like a character from another world.

As Hirohito’s son, the emperor Akihito, steps down from the Chrysanthemum throne on 30 April, handing over to his own son, Crown Prince Naruhito, the rituals of imperial succession are reminding the Japanese of how ancient and quaint some of their royal traditions are.

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Peace and stability

Akihito is 85 and the first Japanese emperor to abdicate in two centuries. He first indicated in 2016 that he wanted to step down, citing his health and the weight of official duties – a decision that closely followed the abdications of Pope Benedict and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Over the past few months, Akihito has conducted rites at the Imperial Palace, at cemeteries and at Shinto temples to commute with his ancestors over the succession.

He became emperor in 1989 after the death of Hirohito, aged 87. When he took the throne Japan was at the peak of its economic boom and the Cold War was coming to an end. His reign has been defined by peace, stability and graceful ageing: with a quarter of its population over 65 years old, Japan has the world’s oldest demographic. The Japanese are healthy and wealthy, with life expectancy among the highest in the world.

As for Akihito’s legacy, it is also one of peace, hope and compassion. He and his wife Michiko have consoled victims of natural disasters and offered moral support to the marginalised in society.

Akihito has also been an emissary of reconciliation in Asia, where even now Japan’s conservative elite are reluctant to take responsibility and apologise for the suffering their country caused during the Second World War.

Conveying regret

Although he is technically forbidden from making political statements, he has visited Indonesia, the Philippines and China, expressing regret for Japan’s wartime aggression. This compassion sometimes seems to directly challenge the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who still avoids using the word “regret”.

“He connected with the people in ways that his aloof father never could have and has done more than all of Japan’s political leaders combined to heal lingering post-war wounds,” says Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University in Japan.

“He has managed to work within the constitutional constraints that bar him from politics to intervene subtly in the politics of the past. He has effectively conveyed the nation’s regret for Japan’s wartime misdeeds.”

Cultist fanaticism

Akihito’s actions to restore friendships show how long his father’s shadow was.

Hirohito inspired cultist fanaticism during the war, and the victorious allies were tempted to scrap the title “emperor”. But US General Douglas MacArthur, who oversaw the post-war occupation of Japan, argued that maintaining the emperor would help restore some national morale. MacArthur, however, insisted that Hirohito disconnect with politics completely. On 1 January 1946, Hirohito issued a declaration in which he denied the concept of his being a living god.

The symbolism around an emperor is partly comparable to British royalty: affection tinged with respect for the traditions that the institution embodies, particularly among older people.

Women are still barred from inheriting the throne, although in 2001, the birth of Naruhito’s daughter Aiko prompted an attempt to consider revising the law. But this will be the end of an era, literally.

Akihito’s time as emperor will be known as the Heisei era, and he will be known as the emperor Heisei, just as his father, known in his lifetime as Hirohito, is now referred to as the emperor Showa.

New dawn

The new era of heir apparent Naruhito, which begins on 1 May, will be Reiwa, which means auspiciousness and harmony. The name, carefully selected by a panel of experts, draws on the 8th century Japanese classical poetry anthology Manyoshu.

Naruhito represents a generational shift, even though he is 59. He is as open and worldly as his father. He studied history at Oxford and his university thesis was entitled ‘A Study of Navigation and Traffic on the Upper Thames in the 18th Century’. Jim Hoare, associate fellow at policy institute Chatham House’s Asia-Pacific programme, says he is a world away from the pre-1945 notion of a deity.

“I doubt whether the new emperor will see himself as a god – although Oxford is said to be the home of lost causes,” he says.

Naruhito’s formal coronation will take place in October, an event to which the leaders of 195 nations have been invited. The world will return to Japan next year for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.