Japan’s Emperor Akihito fears age could impact ability to rule
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Story highlights
This is the third public address by an emperor since 1945
The 82-year-old has been in poor health recently
TokyoCNN
—
In a rare televised address, Japan’s Emperor Akihito said if his health worsens he fears he will not be able to fulfill his duties.
“I am already 80 years old, and fortunately I am now in good health,” said the monarch, who turns 83 in December.
“However, when I consider that my fitness level is gradually declining, 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.
The announcement was considered by many to be a plea by the emperor to Japanese lawmakers, asking them to change the law so that he can step down.
Japan’s imperial household law requires the emperor serve in the position until death. If he becomes incapacitated, his successor can act as regent, according to the constitution.
Akihito said that a regent may be appointed, most likely his son Crown Prince Naruhito, to serve in his place if he is seriously ill or incapacitated.
But he stressed that the regent is not an emperor, and the emperor must serve until death.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
Ajay Agarwal/Hindustan Times/Getty Images
Japanese Emperor Akihito turned 84 on December 23, 2017. Akihito is the 125th Emperor of Japan, a direct descendant of Japan's first emperor Jimmu, circa 660 B.C. Here, we take a look at the life of the world's only monarch with the title of emperor.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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A portrait of Crown Prince Akihito in January 1936 at age 3. He is the son of Empress Nagako and Emperor Hirohito, whom he succeeded in 1989. The Chrysanthemum Throne is the oldest hereditary monarchy in the world. Records show the imperial line to be unbroken for 14 centuries.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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Crown Prince Akihito with some of his school friends at the Imperial School in Tokyo, circa 1938.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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Crown Prince Akihito in ceremonial robes for his formal investiture as crown prince at the Tokyo Imperial Palace on November 10, 1952.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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Prince Akihito in his private study at the Imperial Palace in 1952.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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Queen Elizabeth II and Akihito are seen in the royal box at the Epsom Downs Racecourse on June 6, 1953, in England. Crown Prince Akihito made the trip to attend her coronation.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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Akihito addresses the crowd upon arrival at Oahu Airport on October 8, 1953, in Honolulu. During seven months of travel, the crown prince visited 14 countries.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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Akihito during his wedding to Michiko Shoda in 1959. He is the first Japanese crown prince to marry a commoner.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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Akihito with his pet dog Dingo in December 1963, on the grounds of Togu Palace, his residence in Tokyo.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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Prince Akihito takes a walk with Princess Michiko and their son Naruhito in 1964.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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In a 1969 portrait, Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako pose with their children and grandchildren. Crown Prince Akihito stands on the far right.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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Visitors to China's Forbidden City walk beneath Japanese and Chinese flags, flown to welcome Emperor Akihito on October 23,1992. Akihito's visit to China was the first ever by a Japanese emperor.
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President Bill Clinton offers a toast to Emperor Akihito at the White House in June 1994, during the first state dinner of Clinton's administration.
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South African President Nelson Mandela and Emperor Akihito toast during a banquet at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in July 1995.
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Emperor Akihito leaves the Imperial Palace for the hospital in January 2003. The emperor had a successful operation to remove his cancerous prostate.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko leave the residence of the late Princess Kikuko after paying their respects in Tokyo on December 19, 2004. The princess was Akihito's aunt.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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Akihito's eldest son and heir-apparent, Crown Prince Naruhito, granddaughter Princess Aiko, and Crown Princess Masako enter the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on September 2, 2006.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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The Emperor and the Empress greet U.S. President Barack Obama at the Imperial Palace on November 14, 2009.
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Akihito leaves the University of Tokyo Hospital in Tokyo on February 12, 2012. Akihito was scheduled to undergo heart bypass surgery after tests showed the narrowing of his arteries had worsened.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko are greeted at Chennai International Airport in India on December 4, 2013, after arriving from New Delhi on the second leg of their weeklong trip to India. This was the first time they had been to India in 53 years.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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From the balcony of the Imperial Palace, Emperor Akihito greets thousands of people, waving Japanese flags, who have gathered to wish him a happy 82nd birthday on December 23, 2014.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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Then Philippine President, Benigno Aquino welcomes Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko as they start their 5-day state visit to the Philippines on January 26, 2016. A gesture to honor 60 years of strong diplomacy post-WWII, their trip marked the first-ever visit by a reigning Japanese emperor to the Philippines.
Photos: Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito
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Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko wave to well-wishers from the balcony of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on January 2, 2018.
The message appears to have been received by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Abe said that he will “think very seriously about what we can do” in order to ease the emperor’s burden.
This is only the third time a Japanese emperor has spoken to the public in the television and radio era.
Emperor Hirohito announced by radio that Japan lost World War II and Akihito, his son, addressed the nation on TV after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.
Japanese people stopped in the street, gathering to watch the historic address in public on big outdoor screens.
What does the speech imply?
Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University, believes that Akihito implied in his speech that Japanese lawmakers make changes to imperial household law that would enable him to abdicate.
Kingston noted that the speech also was interesting because Akihito spoke “as a citizen baring his soul and sharing his anguish about not being able to fulfill his duties as symbol of state.”
“It was a powerful address,” Kingston said, “sincere and from the heart, asking for people’s understanding and support … and 85% do support him.”
Abdication rumors
Emperor Akihito said his weakening health means he may no longer be able to carry out his duties.
IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD AGENCY/AFP/Getty Images
Many predicted that Akihito would use Monday’s speech to hint that he would be abdicating, after rumors surfaced last month.
Akihito is Japan’s 125th emperor and records claim the imperial line has been unbroken for 14 centuries.
The emperor’s eldest son, 56-year-old Naruhito, is next in line to the throne and has already taken on some of his father’s duties. In May, the IHA announced Akihito and Empress Michiko, 81, would reduce their public appearances due to old age.
In recent years, the emperor has suffered from declining health. Heart surgery and treatment for cancer have taken a toll on his ability to carry out his duties.
“It was some years ago, after my two surgeries that I began to feel a decline in my fitness level because of my advancing age, and I started to think about the pending future, how I should conduct myself should it become difficult for me to carry out my heavy duties in the way I have been doing, and what would be best for the country, for the people, and also for the Imperial Family members who will follow after me,” Akhitio said during his speech.
The emperor and empress have long maintained a demanding schedule of more than 250 public meetings per year and 75 annual trips within and outside of Japan, the IHA said in May. But more than 100 of those meetings per year will now be canceled or reassigned to the crown prince.
A Japanese monarch has not stepped down in about 200 years, but abdication is hardly unprecedented. Nearly half of Japan’s emperors quit the throne while alive, according to state broadcaster NHK.
Once revered as a living God, the Japanese emperor became a ceremonial figure in Japan’s constitutional monarchy after World War II. Occupying forces seized much of the imperial family’s wealth and today Parliament controls the household’s annual budget and allowances, which total well over $100 million.
CNN’s Yoko Wakatsuki, Junko Ogura and Hiroo Saso contributed reporting.