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I'm planning on traveling to Japan for 3 weeks at the end of April, specifically April 21 - May 10. I know that during this period will be the abdication of the throne by the current emperor. Since the emperor doesn't change very often in Japan (last one was when I was 1 year old XD), I wanted to experience as much of the culture surrounding the abdication as possible. I was wondering: Are there any events happening in Tokyo surrounding the abdication of the emperor during this time period? A cursory Google search I tried turned up nothing, but I'd be very disappointed if I didn't try every avenue available to me and ended up missing something important.

(Secondary question, while I'm on the topic: The new emperor is scheduled to be enthroned on October 22, if memory serves. I'm thinking of going back to Japan around then if there are going to be events to experience at that time)

Thanks!

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  • Just to note that Akihito is not "Emperor Heisei" yet; he would only become "Emperor Heisei" after his death. Before his death he is still just "Akihito".
    – xuq01
    Jul 29, 2019 at 7:58

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I'm not sure if there will be public events surrounding the abdication, but it looks like the main event - "Ceremony of the Abdication from the Throne" (Taiirei-Seiden-no-gi) will only be for representatives of the people. I'm guessing that this means government officials, famous personalities, and the like. Please refer to link 1

As for the the enthronement of the new emperor, link 2 says the following:

On May 4, Naruhito will appear on the veranda of the Imperial Palace’s Chowaden hall with other imperial family members to respond to the large crowds expected to flock to the East Gardens to congratulate him.

This public appearance was originally scheduled for Oct 22, as indicated on link 1. I hope I could give you more info, but this is what I got so far.

  1. https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/content/gishikitou_syousai.pdf

  2. http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201903040064.html

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  • Thanks! Also thanks for the first link which provides a clear schedule of events! Do you happen to have a resource that says what time of day the event on May 4 will be?
    – Ertai87
    Mar 19, 2019 at 15:07
  • Sorry I can't find any time schedule yet. You can check this link for future updates. See also under Related Links. (japan.kantei.go.jp/ongoingtopics/_00008.html)
    – DXV
    Mar 20, 2019 at 2:22

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