Japanese Emperor Akihito has no plans to step down, the imperial household said, denying reports the 82-year-old wants to abdicate, in what would be an extraordinary move for his more-than 2,600-year-old royal line.
The nation’s establishment was thrown into tumult after public broadcaster NHK — citing palace sources — said Akihito wanted to pass the throne to his son.
Any such abdication — the first in 200 years — would be a huge shock to a country where the revered royal family symbolizes stability and continuity.
Photo: AFP
Observers say NHK and Kyodo News, which separately carried a similar report, would be extremely careful before committing on such an explosive story and must have strong sourcing.
However, the Imperial Household Agency, the government body that runs royal affairs, offered a categorical denial.
“It is absolutely not true,” Vice Grand Steward Shinichiro Yamamoto told reporters late on Wednesday.
The emperor “has long refrained from discussing systematic issues out of consideration for his majesty’s constitutional position,” he told reporters.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declined to comment, hinting at the sensitivity of the matter, as did Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.
Akihito’s role is strictly limited to one of “symbol of the state” under a constitution imposed by the US after Japan’s defeat in World War II.
A court official said the agency has not been discussing a possible abdication by the emperor.
However, Japan’s top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun daily reported that the government has been secretly reviewing such a possibility.
There is no provision in the Japanese constitution for an abdication, apparently a mechanism to prevent the arbitrary replacement of emperors.
Akihito’s father, Hirohito, in whose name Japan’s military campaigns of the 20th century were prosecuted, was treated as a living god until the nation’s defeat in 1945.
The throne, which Japan claims to be one of the world’s oldest, is held in deep respect by much of the public, despite being largely stripped of its mystique and quasi-divine status in the aftermath of the war.
The much admired Akihito, who has suffered from numerous health issues, including prostate cancer and heart problems, publicly hinted late last year at his growing limitations in the performance of his ceremonial duties.
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