Emperor Akihito of Japan Plans to Abdicate Throne, Broadcaster Says (Published 2016)Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Akasaka Palace imperial garden in Tokyo in April.Credit...Shizuo Kambayashi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images TOKYO — For the first time in nearly two centuries, an emperor of Japan has said that he will abdicate the throne before he dies. According to NHK, the public broadcaster in Japan, Emperor Akihito, 82, who in 1989 succeeded his father, the warti
