Japan emperor suggests regency in rare video address

In this Dec. 23, 2015 file photo, Japan’s Emperor Akihito waves to well-wishers as he appears on the balcony of the Imperial Palace to mark his 82nd birthday in Tokyo. Japanese emperor, in rare TV address aired on Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, says he is concerned about his ability to fulfill duties fully. AP

While he is now in good health, Japan’s Emperor Akihito said in a rare video message on Monday (August 8) said that he is worried it may be difficult for him to carry out his duties as the symbol of the State as he has done until now.

“In coping with the aging of the Emperor, I think it is not possible to continue reducing perpetually the Emperor’s acts in matters of state and his duties as the symbol of the State,” he said in a 10-minute televised address.

“A regency may be established to act in the place of the Emperor when the Emperor cannot fulfill his duties for reasons such as he is not yet of age or he is seriously ill. Even in such cases, however, it does not change the fact that the Emperor continues to be the Emperor till the end of his life, even though he is unable to fully carry out his duties as the Emperor.”

He added that there are times when he feels “various constraints,” leading to him reflecting on his years as emperor and to contemplate his role in the days to come.

He said: “When I consider that my fitness level is gradually declining, I am worried that it may become difficult for me to carry out my duties as the symbol of the State with my whole being as I have done until now.”

News reports last month had cited sources saying that he has mooted the idea of abdicating the throne if he finds himself unable to fully assume his responsibilities.

But the 82-year-old stopped short of saying that he would step down from the throne in his message on Monday.

Under the pacifist Constitution draw up by American forces, the emperor is not allowed to discuss political issues. The Imperial Household Law, which currently does not provide for abdication, will need to be reviewed to allow for such a step and raising such an idea will be considered political as it requires a parliamentary amendment.

He acknowledged these limitations: “While, being in the position of the Emperor, I must refrain from making any specific comments on the existing Imperial system, I would like to tell you what I, as an individual, have been thinking about.”

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is “considering” a response by saying that the government is taking the announcement seriously, Jiji Press reported on Saturday.

The Yomiuri Shimbun quoted sources in a report on Monday that the government is “considering special legislation” that would allow only the present emperor to abdicate the throne.

The sources added that a blanket revision to allow abdications might destabilise the status of emperors, and that the government wanted to avoid scenarios in the future where an emperor might be forced to step down due to political pressures, or seek to abdicate without a proper reason.

According to a nationwide telephone survey by Kyodo News this month, nearly 90 per cent of respondents said the emperor is given too much work. More than 85 per cent said abdication should be made legal as an option for the Emperor and his successors.

Emperor Akihito is not believed to have any immediate health issues, although he was hospitalised for bronchitis in 2011, and had heart bypass surgery in 2012.

He has lamented that old age is catching up with him – most recently on the eve of his birthday last December when he said that “my old age has caused me to make small mistakes at official ceremonies.”

As and when he retires, handing over the throne to his son Crown Prince Naruhito, 56, he will be the first Japanese emperor in about 200 years to give up the throne.

His father, the late Emperor Hirohito, had reigned from 1926 until his death in 1989, presiding over World War II. The post-war Constitution of 1947 stripped the emperor of divine status and cast him as a “symbol of the state and of the unity of the people.” Emperor Akihito is the first peacetime monarch.

Last year, he performed about 270 official duties, including meetings with foreign dignitaries.

He has also served to unite the country in times of crises, such as the Fukushima and Kumamoto earthquakes, and built Japan’s soft power by trying to soothe wartime wounds with former foes – even as Japan’s politics edges to the right. He has consistently expressed remorse over Japan’s wartime actions, from a trip to China in 1992 to a speech last year to mark the 70th year of the end of the war.

This is only the second time that Emperor Akihito has made such a national public address – the first being days after the Tohoku Earthquake in 2011, when he urged national solidarity to overcome the disaster.

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