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Japan Emperor Turns 84, Pledges to Work Until Abdication

by Associated Press

   TOKYO --

   Japan's Emperor Akihito marked his 84th birthday Saturday with a pledge
   to fulfill his duties until the day of his abdication in 2019, and to
   prepare for "passing the torch to the next era."

   Akihito waved to thousands of well-wishers from a balcony of the royal
   palace. He was to attend birthday celebrations at the palace later
   Saturday.

   In his annual birthday comment at a news conference earlier this week
   and released Saturday, Akihito thanked the people for putting together
   thoughts and efforts to achieve his abdication wish that had surprised
   the nation.

   Akihito still has a busy schedule, signing official documents,
   receiving foreign dignitaries and traveling to disaster-hit areas. And
   he said he will keep working until April 30, 2019, the day he is
   scheduled to abdicate.

   "Over the remaining days, I continue to carry out my duties as the
   symbol of the state," Akihito said. "I would like to make preparations
   for passing the torch to the next era, together with the people
   concerned."

   Akihito last year expressed his wish to abdicate, citing his age and
   health as a concern. He ascended the throne at the age of 56 in January
   1989, after the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito, beginning the
   Heisei Era.

   The government has adopted a one-time law allowing for Akihito's
   abdication, and this month formally set the date for the event. His
   elder son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne
   the next day, May 1, 2019. He will be 59.

   There will be more preparations ahead of the abdication, including
   deciding a new era name and a new home for the emperor and the empress.

   Akihito's desire to leave the throne revived a debate about the
   country's 2,000-year-old monarchy, one of the world's oldest, as well
   as discussion about improving the status of female members of the
   shrinking royal population. The current male-only succession rules
   prohibit women from succeeding the throne. Women lose their royal
   status when they marry a commoner.

   Unlike his father who was worshipped as god until the end of World War
   II, Akihito has devoted himself to being a symbolic figure as defined
   in Japan's postwar pacifist constitution while trying to soothe the
   wounds of war from his father's era. Though spoken in soft language,
   his emphasis on the importance of peace and compassion toward the
   handicapped, the weak and the elderly as he himself grew older is often
   seen in contrast to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's right-wing, hawkish
   policies.

   In his birthday comment, Akihito also mentioned his sympathy for the
   suffering of those affected by volcanic eruptions and fatal rainstorms
   in southern Japan earlier this year.

   The last emperor to abdicate was 200 years ago -- Kokaku in 1817.