Emperor Akihito becomes first Japanese monarch to abdicate in 200 years
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JIJI PRESS/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Japan's Emperor Akihito (R) and Crown Prince Naruhito (L) wave to the crowd during the New Year's greeting ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on January 2, 2019. - Japan's Emperor Akihito on January 2 delivered his final New Year's address before his abdication later this year, telling tens of thousands of well-wishers that he was praying for peace. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT (Photo credit should read JIJI PRESS/AFP/Getty Images)
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Japan’s Emperor Akihito formally abdicated Tuesday during a historic ceremony in Tokyo, becoming the country’s first monarch to step down from the Chrysanthemum Throne in two centuries.
His son, Crown Prince Naruhito, 59, will be inaugurated as the 126th emperor Wednesday, ushering in the Reiwa era.
Akihito’s reign – and the Heisei era – officially ends at midnight on Tuesday. Hereafter the 85-year-old will be known as Emperor Emeritus Akihito.
03:23 - Source: CNN
Watch: Japanese Emperor Akihito abdicates throne
Akihito, along with Empress Michiko and the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, attended a short ceremony at 5 p.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) in the Matsu-no-Ma state room of the Imperial Palace.
Outside, throngs of well-wishers, both Japanese and visitors from overseas, waited in the rain-soaked grounds.
In a rare instance of speaking live on television, the ruler said that he had performed his duties as the emperor with a “deep sense of trust and respect” for the Japanese people.
“I consider myself most fortunate to have been able to do so,” he said at the small abdication ceremony.
“I sincerely wish, together with the Empress, that the Reiwa era, which begins tomorrow, will be a stable and fruitful one.”
Memorable reign
The much-loved Akihito will be remembered for connecting with his public in a way that no other Japanese monarch has done and expressing “deep remorse”for the country’s actions during World War II.
After having heart surgery and overcoming prostate cancer in recent years, the monarch cited health reasons for stepping down.
“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,” the soft-spoken Emperor said in 2016, in his second TV speech in three decades.
It wasseen as a plea to Japan’s lawmakers to change the law to allow him to retire. The following year, they did.
“It won attention and respect from the people, who recognized the emperor actually had a will of his own,” said Hitomi Tonomura, a historian at University of Michigan’s Center for Japanese Studies.
It was a fitting final move for a monarch who had often broken with tradition. He was also the first Japanese Emperor to marry a commoner, speak to his subjects live on television and to be hands-on in raising his children.
A child of a deity
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito greets the public on his 81st birthday in December 2014. He ascended to the throne after his father's death in 1989.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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In December 1933, Tsugunomiya Akihito was born to Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako. He was their fifth child and first son. According to Japanese legend, he is a direct descendant of Japan's first emperor Jimmu, circa 660 BC. Akihito means "shining pinnacle of virtue," and Tsugunomiya means "prince of the august succession and enlightened benevolence."
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito, 14, uses a magnifying glass at the Peers School in Tokyo. At about the age of 5, Akihito was separated from his parents, in accordance with Japanese custom at the time, and raised and educated by chamberlains and tutors.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito uses a scooter to whiz across the Imperial Palace grounds in 1948.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito peers over the shoulder of his father, Emperor Hirohito.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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During a seven-month trip in 1953, Akihito sits on the promenade deck of a cruise ship headed from Hawaii to San Francisco. He visited 14 countries.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito wears traditional garb at a ceremony where he was proclaimed heir apparent to the throne. His outfit here was reported to be over 1,000 years old.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito clears a hurdle during an equestrian event in Tokyo in 1952. It was staged as a send-off for Japanese Olympic riders.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito during a shooting trip circa 1955.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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After graduating from Gakushuin University, Akihito attends a farewell party with other graduates in April 1956.
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Akihito joins Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie for a hunt outside Tokyo in November 1956.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito met his future wife, Michiko Shoda, at a tennis tournament. He was the first Japanese Emperor to marry someone outside of the aristocracy.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Michiko pose in traditional Japanese wedding costumes before their marriage in April 1959.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and his wife after their wedding ceremony.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Members of the Japanese imperial family are photographed in 1961. Akihito is second from left, looking at his wife and their first son, Naruhito. They are joined by Akihito's parents, Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako, and his brother Masahito.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito arm-wrestlers Naruhito while Michiko looks on. The couple had another son, Fumihito, in 1965. Their only daughter, Sayako, was born in 1969.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito in 1971.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Michiko are received at the White House by US President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan in 1987.
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Akihito drives to an imperial villa in 1989. Michiko is in the front passenger seat. Behind Akihito is his son Fumihito.
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Akihito walks during his enthronement ceremony in 1990. A year and 10 months after the death of his father, Akihito officially became the 125th Emperor of Japan.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Michiko visit the Great Wall of China in 1992. It was the first visit to China by a Japanese monarch. During his stay, Akihito said he deplored the Japanese treatment of the Chinese before and during World War II.
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Akihito and Michiko pose with police officers who had escorted them at Brazil's Curitiba Airport in 1997.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Mexican President Vicente Fox wave to people while Fox visited Tokyo in 2003.
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Akihito and Michiko walk on a beach in Shimoda, Japan, in 2004. Joining them were their son Fumihito and Fumihito's family: wife Kiko and daughters Mako and Kako.
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Akihito talks with Malaysian King Syed Sirajuddin while Michiko meets with Queen Tuanku Fauziah in 2005.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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During a visit to Honolulu in 2009, Akihito lays a wreath at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Akihito has repeatedly expressed remorse for his country's actions before and during World War II.
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Akihito and Michiko play tennis together in 2010.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Michiko bow in front of collapsed buildings and houses after an earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan in 2011. After the disaster, Akihito made an unprecedented televised address -- the first time any Japanese emperor had spoken to the public on TV. "I truly hope the victims of the disaster never give up hope, take care of themselves and live strong for tomorrow," he said.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Michiko visit an evacuation shelter after the earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
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Akihito talks to evacuees at a shelter in Minamisanriku.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Michiko attend a New Year's ceremony in Tokyo in 2011.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito hosts US President Barack Obama in April 2014.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Michiko tour shops in Minamisanriku, Japan, in July 2014. They offered encouragement to store owners who were affected by the earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito leaves after speaking at the opening ceremony of the Diet, Japan's parliament, in January 2017.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Michiko sit together during a flight to Vietnam in February 2017.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Michiko attend the Japan Art Academy Award Ceremony in June 2017.
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Akihito and Michiko greet US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump as they arrive at the Imperial Palace in November 2017.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Michiko wave to well-wishers from the balcony of the Imperial Palace in January 2018. Just a month earlier, it was announced that he would be abdicating in April 2019.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Michiko attend a memorial service for war veterans in August 2018.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Michiko listen to Indonesian percussion music as they attend an event in Hamamatsu, Japan, in November 2018.
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Akihito's final New Year's greetings draws a huge crowd at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in January 2019.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Michiko stroll outside the imperial villa in Hayama, Japan, in January 2019.
Photos: Japan's Akihito: His life in pictures
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Akihito and Michiko meet well-wishers near the Hayama Imperial Villa.
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Akihito arrives for a speech at the Diet in January 2019.
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Akihito addresses the Diet.
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Akihito and Michiko take a brief stroll outside the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in April 2019.
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Akihito and Michiko wave to well-wishers in Shima, Japan, in April 2019.
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Akihito and Michiko wave after visiting the Jingu shrine in Ise, Japan, in April 2019.
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Akihito on the day of his abdication.
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Crown Prince Naruhito walks in front of his father as he arrives for the abdication ceremony.
When the Emperor was born in 1933, Japan was a very different place. War was brewing and his father, Emperor Hirohito, was revered as a human deity.
In 1937, Japanese troops invaded Nanjing – then the capital of the Republic of China – killing around 300,000 Chinese in a weeks-long spree following the Japanese occupation, according to Chinese estimates. Japan has disputed the scale of the massacre.
In 1940, Japan officially entered World War II on the side of Germany and Italy. Thewar years remain a controversial period in the nation’s history. As many as 200,000 women, mainly Korean, were forced into sex slavery by Japanese soldiers during WWII, according to a United Nations report. Japan has apologized and says the issue is resolved, but South Korea has demanded a more formal apology and reparations.
When Emperor Hirohito made a radio address surrendering in 1945, most Japanese people had never heard his voice before, despite him having been in power already for nearly20 years.
After the war, Japan was occupied by the United States. The new constitution banned the Imperial family from engaging in politics and Emperor Hirohito renounced his divine status.
The emperors were no longer gods – they were humans.
Healing the wounds
In 1989, Emperor Akihito, was handed a country still dealing with the wounds of war. His reign, the Heisei era, means “achieving peace” – and it has proved to be a fitting name.
In May 1990, just over a year after he came to the throne, Emperor Akihito hosted then-South Korean President Roh Tae-woo at a state banquet where he made waves by admitting responsibility for Japan’s wartime aggressions. “I think of the sufferings your people underwent during this unfortunate period, which was brought about by my country, and cannot but feel the deepest regret,” he said.
In 1992, the Emperor became the first Japanese monarch to visit China, where he said he felt a “deep sadness” for the “unfortunate period in which my country inflicted great suffering on the people of China.”
He has also madeseveral trips to Okinawa, where about 110,000 Japanese troops and 100,000 civilians lost their lives in the name of Emperor Hirohito. Anti-imperialist and anti-US sentiment ran deep on the small southern islands. During a 1975 trip, young radicals threw a fire bomb at the then-crown prince.
The Emperor’s conciliatory sentiments about Japan’s wartime past contrast with that of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has suggested that future generations should not have to keep apologizing for Japan’s past. Abe has also ignited criticism from China and South Korea in the past by visiting the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, a controversial memorial sitethat includes names of convicted Japanese war criminals. Abe hasn’t visited the shrine since 2013, although earlier this year he sent it a ritual offering.
“The Emperor has contributed more than all of Japan’s prime ministers combined in advancing reconciliation,” said Jeremy Yellen, a historian of modern Japan at Chinese University of Hong Kong. “These efforts to restore dignity to Japan’s victims has also helped the nation regain a dignity that remains imperiled by revisionists.”
People’s emperor
Throughout his three-decade rule, Emperor Akihito has embraced a more “normal” life.
For a start, he became the first Emperor to marry a commoner. The Emperor met Empress Michiko in 1957 during tennis match in the scenic mountain town of Karuizawa. After they married, the couple often returned to the place where they met.
When Emperor Akihito was a child, he was separated from his parents and raised and educated by chamberlains and tutors. But when the new royal couple had their three children, Naruhito, Fumihito and Sayako Kuroda, they declined hired help, instead raising the children themselves – even reportedly making them pack their own school lunches.
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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Akihito, then-Crown Prince, and his fiancée Michiko Shoda photographed at the Tokyo Lawn Tennis Club on December 6, 1958. The couple had met the previous year while playing a doubles match on a tennis court in Karuizawa, Nagano prefecture, an event that became known as "love match."
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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Akihito watches his then-fiancée, Michiko Shoda, flip through a photo album at his Tokyo mansion on December 26, 1958. Shoda was nicknamed "Mitchi" and her hairstyles and fashion were closely watched. "Japanese women adored her," said Yukiya Chikashige, a journalist who has covered the Japanese royal family for over three decades. "Her image was similar to Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn's character) in 'Roman Holiday.'''
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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Michiko Shoda, now known as Empress Michiko, departs her home for the Imperial Palace in the early hours of April 10, 1959, the day of her marriage to Crown Prince Akihito. "This was a marriage for love, and between a royal and a commoner," said Chikashige. "It was new to the public."
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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Akihito photographed wearing a top hat and a suit on his wedding day at the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, on April 10, 1959. The ceremony made Michiko Shoda, a commoner, the future empress of Japan, breaking with over 2,000 years of tradition.
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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The future empress, seen in traditional ceremonial robes, is photographed on her way to the Kashiko-dokoro, or the Imperial Palace sanctuary, on her wedding day in 1959.
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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Akihito, second from the right, is assisted by an official as he enters a Shinto sanctuary inside the Imperial Palace on his wedding day in 1959.
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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The couple pose during their wedding at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Michiko wore an elaborate "junihitoe," a 12-layered kimono with symbolic patterns.
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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The newly-wed Akihito and Michiko ride in a royal carriage through the streets of Tokyo on their wedding day. Shigeo Suzuki, a former TV producer who oversaw coverage of the 1959 ceremony, recalls filming the couple waving happily to the crowds. "Their smiles," he recalled, "seemed as if they too were feeling the beginning of a new era."
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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Akihito and Michiko pose for photographs at the Imperial Palace the day after the royal wedding. "The distance between the imperial family and ordinary people shortened dramatically with the marriage," said Suzuki.
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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The growth of mass media and the emergence of live television, helped to cement the pair's enormous popularity.
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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A tram decorated with lights to celebrate the royal wedding.
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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Prior to the royal wedding, live TV footage was usually delivered from fixed cameras. But the event marked one of the first instances when moving cameras, mounted on dollies, were used in the country.
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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More than half a million people lined the parade route, while millions more tuned in to watch the wedding live.
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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"There weren't many TV sets yet, so television came behind newspapers, radio and magazines," said Suzuki. "But the wedding changed that."
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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Tokyo residents pictured in front of Michiko Shoda house before her wedding to Akihito in 1959. The public was fascinated with the soon-to-be princess.
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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A first aid bus decorated with photos of the royal couple.
Photos: A "love match" that won over Japan
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Akihito and Michiko with their son Naruhito in 1964. The couple often broke with tradition, opting to raise their own children. "They (the couple) wanted to show they were not reigning, but rather, they were just like us."
But it was in 2011, as the country reeled from the fatal earthquake and tsunami that saw more than 20,000 people die or go missing, that Akihito truly cemented his reputation as a people’s Emperor.
The Emperor made an unprecedented televised address – the first time any Japanese Emperor had spoken to the public on TV. “I truly hope the victims of the disaster never give up hope, take care of themselves and live strong for tomorrow,” he said.
02:47 - Source: CNN
Breaking down Japan's succession crisis
Akihito and Michiko traveled to disaster-hit areas, kneeling to talk to survivors face-to-face.
“It was like a dream,” Fukushima evacuee Ayako Moriie said, describing meeting the royals in the school gymnasium where survivors were staying. “Even though they might be above the clouds where we normally can’t reach, it was comforting that they think the same as we do. His words gave us the strength to carry on.”
Andrew Gordon, a leading scholar of modern Japanese history at Harvard University, said that Akihito’s actions had made the Imperial family more accessible.
But he cautioned that compared to some monarchies in Europe, Japan’s was still a “very distant institution.”
A new era
The incoming Naruhito’s name means “a man who will acquire heavenly virtues.”
But the crown prince has shown no hint of harking back to the era of the demi-gods when he ascends to the Japanese throne on May 1.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito attends a wedding in Luxembourg in 2012. He is the oldest son of Emperor Akihito.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito is held by his mother, Crown Princess Michiko, after being born in Tokyo in February 1960. Naruhito's name means "a man who will acquire heavenly virtues."
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Michiko plays with 2-year-old Naruhito in the gardens of the Togu Royal Palace in May 1961.
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Naruhito walks with his parents on a beach at the Hayama Imperial Villa in June 1961.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito plays on a swing on his fifth birthday in February 1965.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito throws a paper airplane with his parents in October 1965.
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Naruhito studies a globe with his mother in February 1968.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito paddles at the Children's Land playground in Yokohama, Japan, in June 1968.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito runs a relay race at his school in Tokyo in 1970.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito, front middle, plays a pinball game with his two siblings -- Sayako, left, and Fumihito -- in 1972. Watching them, from left, are their parents, Michiko and Akihito; their grandparents, Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako; their uncle Masahito; and their aunt Hanako.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Tomohide Gomi, honorary professor of Tokyo University, teaches Naruhito about the "Manyoshu" poetry anthology in 1977. Naruhito studied at Oxford University in England. He earned a degree from Gakushuin University in Tokyo.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito and his parents welcome former US President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan in 1989.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito chats with his fiancee, Masako Owada, in June 1993. Like his father, Naruhito married a commoner. Masako previously worked as a diplomat.
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Naruhito leaves the sanctuary inside the palace where he attended wedding rites with his bride in June 1993.
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Tokyo metro police control an excited crowd of "Masako admirers" before the start of a parade honoring Naruhito and his new wife in 1993.
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Crown Princess Masako waves to the imperial household staff as she and Naruhito depart for their wedding parade.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, left, lead their children and their spouses during a garden party in Tokyo in 1997.
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Naruhito and Masako walk with their daughter, Aiko, during a family outing in August 2002. Aiko is their only child.
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Naruhito and Masako attend the funeral of Akihito's cousin, Prince Takamado, in November 2002.
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Naruhito takes a photo of photographers during a five-day visit to Portugal in May 2004.
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Naruhito, center, takes part in Gakushuin University's alumni orchestra concert in July 2004.
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Naruhito pays his respects to the late Pope John Paul II during a memorial service in Tokyo in April 2005.
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Naruhito with his wife, Masako, and his daughter, Aiko, in November 2005.
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Naruhito and his family mingle with Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and members of her family during a trip to Apeldoorn, Netherlands, in 2006.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Princess Aiko dances in front of her parents during a school sports event in 2007.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito delivers a speech in Tokyo during a send-off ceremony for Japanese Olympians in 2008.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito is joined by his parents and other family members during a park visit in 2009.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito takes a photo of a rhinoceros while touring a reserve in Kenya in March 2010.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito, Aiko and Masako pose with their pets in December 2010.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito and Masako listen to Iwanuma Mayor Tsneaki Iguchi while touring the tsunami-devastated city in June 2011.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito and Masako trail Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko as they leave for Great Britain in 2012. They were going to attend a ceremony for Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito and Masako attend King Willem's inauguration ceremony in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 2013.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Princess Aiko and her parents attend her graduation ceremony at the Gakushuin Primary School in March 2014.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito, second from left, joins his father as they greet the public at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in December 2014.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito jogs around the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in February 2015.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito arrives in Paris in September 2018.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito waves with his father, who was delivering his final New Year's address in 2019.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito and Masako are greeted by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, who were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary in April 2019.
Photos: Japan's Naruhito: From Crown Prince to Emperor
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Naruhito, standing on a dais, inherits the imperial regalia during his ascension ceremony in May 2019.
Photos: In pictures: Japan's Naruhito ascends to the throne
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Naruhito delivers his first speech after his ascension to the throne. In his remarks, he acknowledged the assumption of his role as an "important responsibility," and he paid tribute to his father's legacy.
The crown prince studied at Oxford University and is passionate about environmental issues. Like his father, he has married a commoner, Masako Owada, who previously worked as a career diplomat. Those who know Naruhito describe him as “modest, charming and astute,” says Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University in Japan.
Naruhito has also indicated that he will continue his father’s legacy of speaking out against revisionist history of WWII. “I myself did not experience the war,” he said on his 55th birthday in 2015. “But I think that it is important today, when memories of the war are fading, to look back humbly on the past and correctly pass on the tragic experiences and history Japan pursued from the generation which experienced the war to those without direct knowledge.”
In February, the crown prince went further to explicitly say that he will continue his father’s legacy. “I want to earnestly fulfill my duties by always being close to the people, and sharing with them their joys and sorrows,” he said at a press conference.
The challenge for Naruhito will be how to emerge from the shadow of his father and establish himself as a modern leader of Japan’s ancient monarchy.
CNN’s Mohammed Elshamy contributed to this report from Atlanta. CNN’s Junko Ogura, Hidetaka Sato and Dan Campisi contributed to this report from Tokyo and Hong Kong.
