TOKYO — As part of the historic handover of Japan’s imperial throne on Wednesday, the incoming emperor, Naruhito, will receive a sword, a jewel and official seals in a sacred ceremony that dates back thousands of years.

Naruhito, 59, is to take the Chrysanthemum Throne a day after his father, Emperor Akihito, 85, becomes the first Japanese emperor to abdicate in more than 200 years.

The ascension ceremony in a state room at the imperial palace will make history in another way: For the first time in the modern era, a woman will be present. Satsuki Katayama, the sole woman in the cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, will be on hand to witness this first step in Naruhito’s enthronement.

[Read “Survival of the Throne,” a five-episode series on Japan’s royal family.]

But the new empress, Masako, Naruhito’s wife of 26 years, will not be allowed to attend — another illustration of the diminished status of women in the imperial family, and of the challenges women face more broadly in Japanese society.