Japan Poised to Reveal Name of New Imperial Era as Akihito Abdicates

THE GUARDIAN: Naming ceremony to take place before emperor steps down from Chrysanthemum throne

On Monday morning, a senior government official in Tokyo will enter a room, gather his thoughts and hold up a work of handwritten calligraphy.

Millions of people will pause and digest the meaning of the two kanjicharacters, and Japan will finally get the answer to a question that has kept it in suspense for months: the name of the new imperial era.

The characters will open a new chapter in Japanese history, a month before the emperor, Akihito, makes way for his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, whose enthronement will take place on 1 May in the country’s first imperial abdication for 200 years. » | Justin McCurry in Tokyo | Friday, March 29, 2019

Japan Considering Special Law to Allow Emperor to Abdicate

A Japanese government panel is considering a special law to allow 83-year-old Emperor Akihito to abdicate.

Emperor Akihito Hints at Desire to Abdicate

Japanese Emperor Akihito says that he’s worried that his age may make it difficult for him to fully carry out his duties. Speaking on Monday in a rare televised address, Akihito says there are limits to reducing the emperor’s duties as the ‘symbol of the state’, the status accorded to the monarch under Japan’s postwar constitution

THE GUARDIAN: Japan's Emperor Akihito says health is failing and hints at abdication: In TV address, 82-year-old monarch does not explicitly say he would stand down but raises prospect of appointing regent » | Martin Foster in Tokyo | Monday, August 8, 2016