Japan: New Emperor Naruhito Takes Command

#International

It followed the abdication on April 30, 2019 of his 85-yearold father, Emperor Akihito.

Japanese Emperor Naruhito, 59, formally took up office on May 1, 2019, a day after the abdication of his father. Agency reports said he pledged to work as a symbol of the nation and for the unity of its people. Former Emperor Akihito, 85 and Empress Michiko, stepped down on April 30, 2019 after three decades on the throne. Akihito became the first Japanese emperor to stand down in more than 200 years. Naruhito technically became emperor at midnight when his father’s reign came to an end - marking the start of Reiwa Era.

This was later formalised in the morning when Naruhito symbolically took possession of sacred imperial regalia - a sword and a gem - that have been passed down through the generations.

Japanese emperors do not wear crowns. So these treasures, along with a mirror, act as symbols of imperial power. However, the items used in the ceremony were duplicates. The real objects kept in shrines around the country are never seen. Emperor Naruhito is married to Empress Masako. Their only child, Princess Aiko, was born on December 1, 2001.

However, she cannot succeed the father as it is against tradition. Before Naruhito, no Japanese emperor had studied abroad. He is also the first emperor not to be separated from his family and brought up largely by nannies. Emperor Naruhito was born on February 23, 1960 as the elder son of former Emperor Akihito and former Empress Michiko, a year after their marriage.

The new emperor entered the kindergarten of Gakushuin University, Japan in 1964 and attended the elementary, junior high and high schools of the same university.

In 1978, he enrolled in Gakushuin University’s Faculty of Letters, majoring in History. After attending the graduate school of the private Japanese university in April 1982, he studied for two years from 1983 at the University of Oxford’s Merton College. He was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by Oxford in 1991. Japan boasts the oldest continuing hereditary monarchy in the world, dating back to about 600 BC.

Japanese emperors used to be seen as gods, but Emperor Hirohito - Naruhito’s grandfather - publicly renoun ced his divinity at the end of World War II, as part of Japan's surrender. Today, the role is largely ceremonial and the Emperor is barred from making political statements.

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