The Emperor of Japan will not release the
traditional New Year message this year, which marks another step
towards reducing his royal duties. Vice Grand Steward Yasuhiko
Nishimura on Monday said Emperor Akihito, who recently turned 83,
has accepted a proposal made by the Imperial Household Agency to
forgo the message that he has been delivering on 1 January ever
since he succeeded to the throne in 1989.
The New Year message is very close to the
traditional press conference that Emperor Akihito offers on his
birthday on 23 December. Foregoing the New Year message would make
his work load more bearable.
Emperor Akihito will continue with the
traditional greetings from the entire Royal Household, which takes
from the Imperial Palace balcony in Tokyo on 2 January.
The day is expected to pull record crowds as travel agencies are
reporting that day trips into the city are completely sold
out.
In August, Emperor Akihito made a rare televised
broadcast in which he expressed his desire to abdicate in favour
his son, the Crown Prince Naruhito. Emperor Akihito is recovering
from a fever he suffered recently. He has undergone bypass surgery
in 2012 and had prostate cancer in 2003.
He was born on 23 December 1933 as
the elder son and the fifth child of the Emperor Shōwa
(Hirohito) and Empress Kōjun (Nagako). He was titled Prince Tsugu
as a child. He was heir-apparent to the Chrysanthemum throne from
the moment of his birth, but his formal investiture as crown prince
was held at the Tokyo Imperial Palace on 10 November 1952. In June
1953, he represented Japan at the coronation of Her Majesty The
Queen in London. In August 1957, he met Michiko Shōda on a
tennis court. Their engagement was formally approved on 27 November
1958, and they married on 10 April 1959. She was the first commoner
to marry into the Imperial Family. They went on to have three
children, Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan (born 1960), Fumihito,
Prince Akishino (born 1965) and Mrs. Sayako Kuroda (born 1969,
formerly known as The Princess Nori). They have four grandchildren:
three granddaughters and one grandson.
