APP
\nTOKYO
\nJapan\u2019s lower house of parliament passed a bill Friday that allows ageing Emperor Akihito to step down, as it also called for a rare debate on the role of women in the male-dominated monarchy.
\nJapan has not had an imperial abdication in two centuries and there was no law to deal with 83-year-old Akihito\u2019s surprise retirement request after nearly three decades on the Chrysanthemum Throne.
\nThe popular monarch shocked the country last summer when he signaled his desire to hand the crown to his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, citing age and declining health — he has been treated for prostate cancer and had heart surgery.
\nThe one-off bill is widely expected to become law next week after passage through the upper house.
\nThe abdication must take place within three years of the bill becoming law or it expires — and it only applies to Akihito.
\nSome scholars and politicians feared that changing the law to allow any emperor to abdicate could put Japan\u2019s future monarchs at risk of being subject to political manipulation.
\nJapan has had abdications in its long imperial history, but the last one was over 200 years ago and politicians had to craft legislation to make it possible because there was no provision for it in the law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
APP TOKYO Japan\u2019s lower house of parliament passed a bill Friday that allows ageing Emperor Akihito to step down, as it also called for a rare debate on the role of women in the male-dominated monarchy. Japan has not had an imperial abdication in two centuries and there was no law to deal with 83-year-old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n