Japanese Emperor expresses concerns about health, hints at abdication

Japanese Emperor Akihito has made a television address where he expressed concerns and fears for his health.

The 83-year-old monarch said that he was concerned his health and age would impede him carrying out his duty and hinted that he wanted to stand down. Akihito talked of wanting an orderly imperial family succession although he did not explicitly say he wanted to abdicate.

Public broadcaster NHK had reported that Akihito, who has had heart surgery and been treated for prostate cancer, wanted to step down in a few years – a move that would be unprecedented in modern Japan.

Japan’s emperor is defined in the constitution as a symbol of the “unity of the people” and has no political power.

 “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,” he said in the taped address.

“There are times when I feel various constraints such as in my physical fitness.”

“It is conceivable that a regent could be appointed,” he added.

The Guardian reports that Akihito is said to feel strongly that an emperor’s full performance of his duties is integral to his constitutional role as a symbol of the people’s unity.

Local media also report that opinion polls have shown the vast majority of ordinary Japanese sympathise with the emperor’s desire to retire, but legal changes would be needed to allow him to do so.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a swift response to the emperor’s speech saying the government would take the emperor’s remarks “seriously”.

Akihito has been cutting back on official duties recently, his place taken by his heir, 56-year-old crown prince Naruhito.

Naruhito has only one daughter. Since only males can inherit the Chrysanthemum throne, the title after Naruhito would pass to his brother, Prince Akishino, and then to nine-year-old nephew Hisahito.

The idea of the emperor standing down has sparked opposition from Abe’s conservative base, who worry debate on the imperial family’s future could widen to the topic of letting women inherit and pass on the throne, which goes against traditionalists.