Emperor Akihito to abdicate on April 30, 2019

December 1, 2017

Tokyo- Japan's Emperor Akihito will step down on April 30, 2019, in the country's first Imperial abdication in about 200 years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday.

Crown Prince Naruhito will accede to the throne on May 1 that year, when the country's era name is also set to change from the current "Heisei".

The Imperial House Council on Friday met and agreed on the timing of the Emperor's abdication, Abe, chair of the council, told reporters after the meeting.

The Imperial abdication will be the first since Emperor Kokaku relinquished his title in 1817 and the first since the country's current constitution took effect in 1947.

The cabinet is expected to adopt an ordinance as early as Dec. 8 to formalize the abdication and accession dates, sources familiar with the situation said.

"With a major step taken forward for Imperial succession, I'm filled with deep emotion," Abe said.

"We'll do our best to allow the Emperor to abdicate and the Crown Prince to accede to the throne smoothly as the nation celebrates the succession," the prime minister said.

The council, tasked with discussing important matters related to the Imperial Family, met for the first time since Jan. 19, 1993, when it approved the Crown Prince's marriage to Masako Owada, now the Crown Princess.

In an unusual video message broadcast in August 2016, the Emperor suggested he wished to step down due to age-caused difficulties in fulfilling his official duties. He will turn 84 on Dec. 23.

Abe convened the council's meeting under special legislation enacted in June to enable Emperor Akihito's abdication that requires the government to listen to the opinions of the council's members before fixing the date when the Emperor will step down.

At the meeting, held behind closed doors for about an hour, Abe heard the opinions of two representatives of the Imperial Family, the speakers and deputy speakers of both chambers of parliament and the chief justice of the Supreme Court, among other members.

The council reached a consensus without a vote after Abe presented a proposal to set the abdication date as April 30, 2019.

The prime minister conveyed the council's decision to the Emperor before announcing it.

Previously, the government looked at the option of the Emperor abdicating on March 31, 2019, the last day of fiscal 2018.

The date comes at a time of year when many people change their residences and is close to the April 2019 unified local elections, when political tensions are expected to heighten, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference.

Suga said that setting the abdication date as April 30, right after the Showa Day holiday on April 29, will allow people to look back on Japanese history and feel resolved to make a fresh start.

April 29 is the birthday of the late Emperor Hirohito, posthumously called Emperor Showa, the father of Emperor Akihito.

Suga attended the council's meeting as an observer.

The government plans to establish an organization led by Suga early next year to discuss details of the Imperial succession. One focus is expected to be whether the ceremony to mark the abdication will be held as a state act by the Emperor.

The government plans to announce the new era name in advance, possibly during 2018, hoping to minimize the impact of the name change on people's daily lives. Jiji Press