Last month, Japanese media reported that Emperor Akihito told close aides and his family that his age and health were making it hard for him to perform his duties.
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While much of the discussion has centered on Akihito’s age and health, he obliquely introduced at the end of his address another possible argument for abdication: a smoother succession process.
Toshihiko Saito of Gakushuin University, author of the book “Emperor Akihito and Pacifism”, said the government “can’t ignore his intention but must act on his words”. However, when I consider that my fitness level is gradually declining, I am anxious that it may become hard for me to carry out my duties as the symbol of the State with my whole being as I have done until now.
“It is my hope that by thoroughly reflecting on our country’s long history of emperors, the Imperial Family can continue to be with the people at all times and can work together with the people to build the future of our country, and that the duties of the Emperor as the symbol of the State can continue steadily without a break”.
Japan’s emperor expressed concern Monday about fulfilling his duties as he ages, in a public address that was remarkable for its rarity and its suggestion that he would like to abdicate.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in a swift response, said the government would take his remarks “seriously”.
“Considering the emperor’s duties, as well as his age and the burden (of the job), we have to firmly look at what we can do”.
“Legally, he can’t request a revision of law”, said Hashimoto, an expert on the imperial system. “That’s why he can’t ask directly”. Akihito’s second oldest, Prince Akishino, 50, is second in line to the throne, and Prince Akishino’s 9-year-old son is third.
A survey by the Asahi Shimbun daily published Monday showed that 84 percent of people surveyed backed the idea. Heart surgery and treatment for cancer have taken a toll on his ability to carry out his duties.
The imperial couple also did not appear to mind when a schoolgirl took a picture of them and posted it to her Twitter account when they visited her prefecture – an action that divided opinion amongst the general public. I am already 80 years old, and fortunately I am now in good health. The first was in the days after the March 2011 triple quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster as he sought to calm a nation undergoing its worst crisis since the war.
Born 23 December 1933, he is the 125th emperor of a line which is traced back more than 2,600 years, according to official genealogies. It is deeply ingrained in the nation’s native Shinto religion.
The speech came in a historically sensitive month. Japan commemorated the United States atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Saturday and does so again on Tuesday for Nagasaki.
The emperor has made an effort to be less distant from the Japanese people than his predecessors – visiting survivors of disasters including comforting the victims of the quake and tsunami in Fukushima in 2011, which was also the occasion of his first-ever television address. The Constitution imposed by the victorious United States stripped the monarch of all his powers and gave him a purely nominal role.
When the Emperor has ill health and his condition becomes serious, I am concerned that, as we have seen in the past, society comes to a standstill and people’s lives are impacted in various ways.
While World War Two was fought and lost in the name of his father, Akihito has moved Japan through an era of peace and non-confrontation.
He has ventured to a number of locales that saw intense fighting, including Okinawa at home and Saipan, Palau and the Philippines overseas, making sure to offer prayers for the souls of all the dead and not just Japanese.
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His life has also been characterised by a more personal openness previously unknown among Japanese royals.
