“I sincerely thank the people who accepted and supported me in my role as the symbol of the state. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Japanese people and tourists visit the Imperial Palace, where Emperor Akihito is attending ritual ceremonies to abdicate. Naruhito will ascend the throne on Wednesday morning in a similarly brief ceremony, during which he will “inherit” the imperial regalia. When he became emperor in 1989, Akihito said he would protect Japan’s postwar constitution, which stripped his father, the wartime monarch Hirohito and all future emperors of their divine status, turning them into symbolic figureheads. Akihito, though, redefined the role of emperor, using his reign to repair ties with Japan’s wartime victims, including a historic visit to China in 1992.

Source: The Guardian April 30, 2019 03:43 UTC