Japan’s emperor can now abdicate
Japan’s current emperor, Akihito, will be permitted to abdicate. The decision was approved by the Parliament.
Japan’s emperor, aged 83, asked permission to abdicate last August, citing his advanced age and poor health.
The bill which allows Akihito to leave the Chrysanthemum Throne was approved on Friday by Japan’s upper house of parliament. Because the bill was approved by the lower house, it now becomes law and it only applies to Akihito and only for three years
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Japan’s monarchy originated, according to legend, 2,700 years ago with the goddess Amaterasu, a female deity said to be the nation’s first emperor.
The Japanese monarchy, whose succession runs only through male members, is the oldest in the world. Akihito’s father, Hirohito — Japan’s wartime emperor, who died in 1989 — was the last to be considered divine.
The next in line to the throne is Crown Prince Naruhito, 57. He has one child, a daughter, while Naruhito’s younger brother, Prince Akishino, has two daughters and a 10-year-old son, Hisahito, the only grandchild eligible to serve as emperor.
According to the AP reports, quoted by npr.org, Japanese media are reporting that officials are considering a late 2018 abdication, but so far no date has been announced.
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