JAPANESE EMPEROR AKIHITO indicated that he wanted to abdicate as his weakening health might make it hard to fulfil his duties.
“I am worried that it may become difficult for me to carry out my duties as the symbol of the state with my whole being as I have done until now,” he said in a video-recorded address to the nation.
Akihito, 82, spoke obliquely, never mentioning the word abdication, but the government is expected to interpret his comments as meaning his wish is to eventually step down.
The constitution does not allow an emperor to step down before he dies.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in a swift response to the emperor’s speech, said the government would take the emperor’s 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.
The government is expected to set up a panel of experts to debate the current imperial system of law, and decide whether or not to create a legal mechanism to allow for abdication.
Symbol of the state
The address was only the second time Akihito spoke directly to the nation. The first time was in the days after the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.
Speculation about the emperor’s future emerged last month with reports he told confidantes that advancing age was making it harder to perform his ceremonial duties and that he would like to step down in a few years.
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Previous emperors, including wartime sovereign Hirohito, were deemed semi-divine. But after Japan’s World War II defeat and occupation, the position became constitutionally limited to being a “symbol of the state and of the unity of the people”, similar to the Irish president.
Japan’s monarchy is said to be the world’s oldest hereditary monarchy, and legend says it is an unbroken line going back 2,600 years.
Akihito’s role as sovereign
Akihito was 11 years old when the war ended. He witnessed the destruction it brought to Japan.
He has keenly embraced the role of symbolic sovereign and is credited with making efforts to seek reconciliation both at home and abroad over the legacy of the war fought in his father’s name.
He has ventured to locales that saw intense fighting, including Okinawa at home and Saipan, Palau and the Philippines abroad, making sure to offer prayers for the souls of all the dead, not just Japanese.
Any move by Akihito to step down appears to have broad public support. A survey by Kyodo News last week showed that 85.7% of people surveyed were in favour of legal changes that would allow abdication.
Additional reporting by Elizabeth O’Malley.
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