Japan's ageing Emperor Akihito will step down in April 2019, marking the end of an imperial era for Japan. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the abdication date shortly after a government and ...

This was an important part of the abdication process. Akihito could not say explicitly that he wanted to stand down, as that would have been considered a comment on the law. Any public comment he ...

Emperor Akihito attended a ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo to mark his abdication. He will formally step down as Emperor at midnight on April 30, bringing to a close the three-decade-long ...

Akihito moved to his current residence in Tokyo’s Minato Ward in March 2020, following his abdication a year earlier. He still regularly visits the Biological Laboratory on the Imperial Palace ...

The Reiwa period follows the Heisei era under Naruhito's father and previous emperor, Akihito, who declared his historic abdication, becoming the first emperor to stand down in more than 200 years.