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Tokyo / AFP
Japan’s Emperor Akihito plans to abdicate in favour of his eldest son within a few years, Japanese media reported on Wednesday.
The 82-year-old monarch has told those close to him that the role should be occupied by someone who can fulfil the emperor’s duties as stipulated in the constitution, public broadcaster NHK reported, without citing a source for the
information.
Under Japan’s current Imperial Household Law, which governs the status of the emperor, there is no legal mechanism for abdication. Any move to step down would therefore require a revision of that law.
Kyodo News agency carried a similar report. No one was immediately available at the Imperial Household Agency for comment.Crown Prince Naruhito and the emperor’s wife, Empress Michiko, support the wish, NHK said.
Japan, which claims to have one of the world’s oldest monarchies, has not seen an imperial abdication from the Chrysanthemum Throne in 200 years, NHK said.
Akihito’s role is strictly limited to one of “symbol of the state” under a constitution imposed by the US in the aftermath of
WW II.