Panel on imperial succession to meet on Jan. 9

January 1, 2018

Tokyo- The Japanese government will hold the inaugural meeting on Jan. 9 of a committee to prepare for Emperor Akihito's abdication and Crown Prince Naruhito's accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne.

The committee, headed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, will discuss how related rituals should be organized. It will decide the schedules for a range of related events, including the enthronement ceremony, by the end of March, officials said.

A succession implementation committee comprising officials from all government ministries and agencies will be set up in the summer at the earliest to make the government fully ready for the abdication and enthronement.

Emperor Akihito is slated to step down on April 30, 2019, and his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will succeed the throne the following day. It will be the first succession from a living Emperor in Japan in 200 years and the first under the current constitution, which came into force in 1947.

On May 1, when the Crown Prince will take the throne, there will be the "Kenji to Shokei no Gi" ceremony, in which the new Emperor will inherit the Imperial Regalia and the State and Privy Seals, and "Sokui go Choken no Gi," in which the heads of the three branches of the government will have an audience with the new Emperor for the first time.

The "Sokuirei Seiden no Gi" ceremony to proclaim him Emperor is expected to be held in the autumn of 2019.

Nov. 14 and Nov. 23 that year are candidate dates for "Daijosai," an important ritual linked to the enthronement in which the new Emperor prays for the well-being of the people and good harvests. The preparatory committee will decide the date.

Members of the committee will also include Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiro Sugita, the grand steward of the Imperial Household Agency and the vice minister of the Cabinet Office. The panel will meet about once every month.

Issues to be taken up at the committee will include how succession-related ceremonies can be simplified and costs curbed. Emperor Akihito hopes that the ceremonies will be held as calmly as possible, informed sources said.

The committee will also consider whether to designate the day of Crown Prince Naruhito's succession to the throne as a holiday, along with the timing of announcing the new Japanese era name, which will replace the current Heisei upon his enthronement.

Emperor Akihito's abdication ceremony, to be held at the Imperial Place, is expected to be an act in matters of state that requires the advice and approval of the cabinet. A proposal has been put forward to name the ceremony "taii no gi."

In the past abdications, a subject of the outgoing Emperor read out a statement declaring that the Emperor was ceding the throne. But the coming ceremony will be held in a way that does not involve the intentions of the Emperor, in order to avoid contradiction with the constitution, in which the Emperor has no powers related to government. Jiji Press