A date is set for the emperor of Japan to retire
IT WAS an understandable request. Last year an 83-year-old Japanese man, who has survived prostate cancer and heart surgery, asked to retire. Yet it took much debate and a change in the law before the government could even set a date for him to do so. When it finally did, on December 1st, it deferred the event for over a year, to April 30th, 2019. But at least the long-suffering emperor, Akihito, will be allowed to step down, even though the law previously said that the emperor rules until his death.
The throne will pass to his son, Naruhito, 57, and a new era in the Japanese calendar will begin. Scholars are busy finding a name for it. The current era, Heisei, roughly means “peace everywhere”.
Japan’s government has granted the emperor’s wish with a manifest lack of enthusiasm. Akihito took the unusual step of revealing his desire to abdicate in a video message aired on NHK, the public broadcaster. He...Continue reading