Japan's Emperor Akihito addresses at the House of Councillors plenary session in Tokyo, Japan, on August 1. Kyodo/Reuters. Japan's left is deeply suspicious of Abe's desire for constitutional change.

Japan's parliament passed a law Friday allowing Emperor Akihito to become the first monarch to abdicate in 200 years. Akihito, 82, said in a rare television address last August that his time to go ...

Emperor Akihito will become the first Japanese monarch to abdicate in 200 years. Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent. Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Akihito, who has reigned since 1989, was the first emperor not to be considered divine, and sought to bring the imperial family closer to the people of Japan. He is the son of Japan’s wartime ...

In 2011, after Japan was struck by a deadly hurricane and tsunami, Emperor Akihito gave the nation’s first royal televised address in an attempt to salve the country’s wounds.He and his wife ...

JAPAN’S Emperor Akihito is abdicating after a 30-year reign. We explain why he is giving up the throne and who is next in line. Here’s what we know. Who is Akihito? Akihito was born on Decemb… ...

Japan’s Emperor Akihito, with Empress Michiko, speaks during the ceremony of his abdication at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Tuesday. The 85-year-old Akihito ends his three-decade reign, and ...

TOKYO-- Japan's much admired Emperor Akihito is set to abdicate on April 30, 2019, at age 85 in the first such departure from the Chrysanthemum Throne in about 200 years, the government said Friday.

Japan’s Emperor Emeritus Akihito will be admitted to hospital for heart tests on Tuesday, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing the Imperial Household Agency.

Japan’s Emperor Akihito, who has spent much of his nearly three decades on the throne seeking to soothe the wounds of World War Two, will step down on April 30, 2019, the government announced ...