Japan will have a new Emperor now.All you need to know about the abdication,New emperor...

Japan's parliament has passed a  one-off bill to allow Emperor Akihito to abdicate.He will the first emperor to do so in last 200 years.

Last year the 83-year-old emperor made an announcement to the nation that he is beginning to feel constraint on his health which makes it hard him for him to fulfil his official duties.

Akihito has undergone a heart surgery and was treated for prostate cancer. He has been on the throne of Japan since the death of his father, Hirohito, in 1989.

Looking to his address and announcement Parliament of Japan have made an arrangement for his abdication which is expected to happen in late 2018 and hand over the crown to Prince Naruhito.

Prince Naruhito

Earlier there was no provision in the existing laws to make the Emperor stand down.The emperor is constitutionally barred from making any political statement so he could not say explicitly that he wanted to stand down as that would be considered comment on the law.

The handover is widely expected to take place in December 2018 as according to the government it must take place within three years of the law coming into effect.

Fact -The Emperor of Japan has no political power but several official duties such as greeting the foreign dignitaries.Japan's monarchy is entwined in the Shinto religion and the  emperors still perform religious ceremonies


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