emperor

Unless you’ve made a concerted effort to avoid Japanese news headlines for the last two years, you already know that the current patriarch of the world’s oldest royal family, Emperor Akihito, will step down from the Chrysanthemum Throne and make way for his son Prince Naruhito to be crowned. A new emperor calls for a new era name, and we know now that on April 30th, 2019, the Heisei period will end and the Reiwa era starts on May 1st with the coronation of the new prince. This is all happening right in the middle of one of the Golden Week holiday period at the beginning of May, where Children’s Day, Showa Day and Greenery Day usually form an almost week-long period of time off. Now with the addition of the abdication and coronation ceremonies, we will have an unprecedented ten-day long stretch of time off… Well, that is if your workplace allows, of course. The End of an Era As the 125th emperor of the world’s oldest continuous reigning monarchial line, Emperor Akihito has definitely seen a lot. Born December 23, 1933, he was a child during the height of WWII and is surely the product of his father…