Japan's parliament passes law allowing Emperor Akihito to abdicate

According to Kyodo, on June 9, the Japanese National Assembly enacted a law allowing Emperor Akihito to transfer the throne to Crown Prince Naruhito. This is the first time a Japanese emperor has abdicated in the past two centuries.

Emperor Akihito. (Source: AFP)

The enactment of the law comes 10 months after the 83-year-old emperor indirectly announced to the nation via television that he wanted to abdicate, a move that was not in accordance with the law at the time.

The new law allowing abdication applies only to the current emperor but does not address the lack of male heirs or the shrinking number of imperial family members.

Instead, Japan's parliament passed a non-binding resolution asking the government to quickly consider how to ensure stable succession by measures such as allowing princesses to create their own branches of the imperial family after they marry./.

According to Vietnam +