Japan's Emperor Akihito to abdicate on April 30, 2019
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December 1, 2017
TOKYO (AP) — 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.
Akihito's elder son Crown Prince Naruhito will ascend the throne a day later, beginning a new as yet unnamed era.
The decision was made Friday at a meeting of the Imperial House Council, which was chaired by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and included parliamentary leaders, supreme court judges and imperial family members.
Akihito expressed his apparent wish to abdicate in August 2016, citing his a...
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