Emperor Akihito participates in the first imperial abdication in Japan in 200 years

After 30 years and five months of rule, Emperor Akihito will leave the "chrysanthemum throne" to his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, at the first abdication of an emperor Japan in two centuries. Japan will open on May 1 at 00:00 (Tokyo time) the first year of the new imperial era "Reiwa", after three decades of the Heisei era ("achieve peace").

This will be the first time in two centuries that a Japanese emperor has given his place in life, under an exception law made to measure for Akihito, in August 2016, he said he wanted to leave the throne because he could no longer exercise "his body and soul" because of his age and his state of health. It is the government that has decided the date of the abdication and all that surrounds it, process during which the imperial family has no voice nor voted.

The Japanese population is preparing for historic celebrations and almost unprecedented because this time the nation does not cry the death of a sovereign. The main ceremonies, very formal, will last only two days (April 30 and May 1) and will take place in the most beautiful hall of the imperial palace. They will be broadcast by the public channel NHK. "His Majesty spends his time as calmly as ever, we would like to support him so that he can celebrate the day of the abdication with tranquility," said an badistant.

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Thousands of people are expected to gather near the imperial palace and Shinto shrines, a religion that governs some of the imperial rites. "There are several stages in succession ceremonies that do not appear in any law," editorialist and historian Eiichi Miyashiro recently explained. "The meaning of these ceremonies is difficult to understand and most of the Japanese do not know," he added.

The Japanese, renowned for their hard work, will combine the two holidays of this event with the traditional "week of gold", adding a total of 10 days of national rest. But not everyone was happy with these extraordinary holidays, and some complained of lack of access to utilities and toilets or of not leaving children because of vacations. According to a newspaper survey Asahi Shimbun45% of Japanese people did not feel happy when they spent so many holidays, compared to 35%.

58 emperors resigned before Akihito

The abdication of the emperor will be held on April 30 at 17h (Tokyo time) in the most luxurious hall of the imperial palace, the "Hall of Pines" ("Matsu-no-Ma"). This 370 m2 room owes its name to its spectacular Japanese zelkova parquet and its walls adorned with pine needle patterns. During this brief ceremony, in the presence of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and 300 other dignitaries, Akihito will announce the reasons for his resignation.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose government drafted the special law allowing the emperor to abdicate, will deliver a speech before Akihito speaks for the last time as Emperor, although he officially retains the title until midnight, when the change of epoch will occur. As of May 1, Akihito will become "Emperor Emeritus".

Akihito of Japan is the first emperor to abdicate on the throne in 202 years since Kokaku (1771-1840), direct ancestor of the current dynasty. Japanese history counts 58 abdications from Kogyoku, who pbaded the throne to Emperor Kotoku during the Taika-no-Kaishin political reform that put the imperial house under Japan's control at the time. 7th century.

Moreover, during the reigns preceding Kokaku, most Japanese emperors died in their youth (in many cases they were still children). Kokaku was therefore the first, for several centuries, to reign over 40 years. precisely since the abdication of Emperor Ogimachi in 1586. The reign of Akihito, aged 30, is one of the largest.

Induction May 1st

May 1 at 00:00, Prince Naruhito, heir to date, will officially become the 126th Emperor, bearing Japan will move from the Heisei era ("achieve peace") to the Reiwa era ("beautiful harmony"). For the succession, the "sacred treasures", whose legend tells that they are more than millennia old and were transmitted to the imperial lineage by the sun goddess Amaterasu, will be delivered to Naruhito in carefully protected cases of the eyes.

These treasures are the "Yata no Kagami" (mirror), "Kusanagi no Tsurugi" (sword) and "Yasakani no Magatama" (an unidentified jewel) They represent wisdom, courage and kindness respectively. The mirror, however, will not be part of the ritual because it never leaves the place where it is in the palace. The possession of these three treasures is considered an essential proof of the emperor's legitimacy, although there are not even any images of them, and even the emperor can not see them.

Hidden at the sight of all mortals, the imperial treasures are a mystery to the Japanese, whether plebeians or courtiers. "We do not know how they are doing," said Eiichi Miyashiro, specialist of the imperial family of the newspaper Asahi Shimbun. "We do not know when they were made, we never saw them," Professor Hideya Kawanishi of Nagoya University told the BBC. "Even the emperor has never seen them."

Naruhito will not speak during this short session, during which women will be excluded. Shortly after, he will participate in another ritual, in which he will deliver his first speech as a ruler. So, May 4, he will welcome the crowd from the balcony of the palace, protected by an armored glbad. During this series of events, members of the imperial family will be dressed in the Western way and it is only during the ceremony of October 22 that the new emperor and his wife, the l 'emperor. former diplomat Masako Owada, will wear sumptuous traditional costumes. The ceremony will cost 1,000 million yen.

The imperial house earmarked 1.2 billion yen for renovations, mainly in the Tokyo Imperial Palace where the new emperor and his family will live, as well as in the residence of Prince Akishino, who will become the new crown prince. Sand allocate an additional 2.9 billion yen to develop the staff of the retired emperors and Prince Akishino. The total number of employees will increase from 159 to 191.

Naruhito will become the new "Symbol of the people and unity of the nation", according to the definition of the Constitution entered into force in 1947 and with which the emperor lost his status of "demi-god". Naruhito promised to follow in his father's footsteps and made it clear that he would continue to work for future generations to discover Japan's abuses during the war and support the victims of natural disasters. According to the experts, this will not be enough to leave a trace, but his concern about the problem of water on Earth could make his role more international.

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The prince Naruhito is the eldest of three children born to Akihito and Michikoand was raised to become emperor. He graduated in 1982 from the History Department of Tokyo Gakushuin University, a favorite school of the Japanese Imperial Family, and then studied for two years at the University of Tokyo. Oxford. He married the former diplomat Masako Owada in 1993 and they have a daughter, 17-year-old Princess Aiko, who is banned from law on the throne because she is a woman. Therefore, from the first day of Reiwa, Prince Akishino, younger brother of Naruhito, will be the new heir.