Japanese emperor Akihito first to resign in 200 years

The Japanese emperor Akihito is to abdicate on 30 April 2019, aged 85, in the first such departure from the Chrysanthemum throne in about 200 years, the government has said.

Akihito’s eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito is set to ascend the throne a day later.

The decision was made on Friday at a meeting of the Imperial House council, which was chaired by the prime minister, Shinzō Abe, and included parliamentary leaders, supreme court judges and family members.

Akihit expressed his wish to abdicate in August 2016 after he suggested last summer that his age and health problems were affecting his ability to carry out public duties.

Abe will provide the summary of the meeting at the next cabinet session early next week, before the formal approval expected on 8 December, the chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said.

“I feel deeply moved that the decision was made smoothly by the Imperial House council, marking a major step toward an imperial succession,” the prime minister said.

Suga said the timing was chosen so that Akihito could abdicate after reaching his 30th anniversary on the throne.

Late April is also more appropriate for many Japanese to embrace the change of an era after settling down from a busy period of travel and job transfers around 1 April, the start of a new fiscal year.

The events also mean longer Golden Week holidays – up to 10 successive days for those who can take 2 May off.

Legislation allowing Akihito to abdicate within three years was enacted this year.

There will be more preparations to come, including deciding the name of the new era and a new home for the emperor and the empress, Suga said.

“We would like everyone to celebrate an abdication of the emperor and succession of the crown prince,” he said.

Akihito’s desire to leave the throne revived a debate about the country’s 2,000-year-old monarchy, one of the world’s oldest, as well as discussion about improving the status of female members of the shrinking royal population.

Male-only succession rules prohibit women from succeeding to the Chrysanthemum throne, and female members lose their royal status when they marry a commoner.

Akihito was 56 when he ascended the throne in January 1989 after the death of his father, Hirohito, beginning the Heisei era. Naruhito will be 59 when he becomes emperor.

The emperor and his wife, Michiko, who was not born into royalty, are often seen making visits to disaster victims and carrying out other official duties.

The legislation for Akihito’s case was needed because the 1947 Imperial House law does not provide for abdication.

The previous emperor to abdicate was Kokaku in 1817.