Emperor reports abdication at earliest predecessor’s tomb

March 26, 2019

Kashihara, Nara Pref.--Emperor Akihito made a formal report on his April 30 abdication at the mausoleum of Emperor Jinmu, his mythical earliest predecessor, in the western Japan city of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, on Tuesday.

The visit to the first Emperor's mausoleum was an abdication-related ritual called "Shin'etsu-no-gi."

Dressed in morning coat and carrying a top hat by hand, the retiring Emperor, 85, walked down a gravel path to the mausoleum at a slow pace. He then presented a "tamagushi" Shinto offering and bowed deeply.

Empress Michiko, in a gray dress, followed suit.

This was the fourth visit by the Imperial couple to Emperor Jinmu's mausoleum since the current Emperor ascended the throne in 1989. They paid the last visit in 2016.

A series of abdication-related rituals started with a "Hokoku-no-gi" ceremony of Emperor Akihito reporting his abdication and its date at the Imperial Sanctuaries within the Imperial Palace on March 12.

On March 15, "Hohei-no-gi" rites were held, with the incumbent Emperor's envoys reporting his abdication and making offerings at Ise Jingu, a Shinto shrine complex in Mie Prefecture, central Japan, and the mausoleums of Emperor Jinmu and the four most recent Emperors.

Emperor Ahikito and Empress Michiko are scheduled to perform Shin'etsu-no-gi at Ise Jingu on April 18 and at the mausoleum of Emperor Hirohito, known posthumously as Emperor Showa, in a Tokyo suburb on April 23. Jiji Press