Emperor Akihito of Japan resigns
 

Emperor Akihito of Japan resigned last Tuesday. Today, he was replaced with former Crown Prince Naruhito.

The son of Hirohito( the last iconic leader of WWII) stepped down? I knew it was in the works for a long time. Ceremonial and all just like Elizabeth II,but its nice to see the tradition be honored.

It is a trend since the 1970's that monarchs of many countries resign when getting older, instead of dying in when in their positions. It has happened in the Netherlands, Spain and now also in Japan.

This is a big deal in Japan for a few reasons.

This marks the end of the Heisei era, in which Akihito was the emperor. In Japan, the eras are a popular way to identify things. For example, people born in Heisei are now considered a different generation.

Akihito and his wife and empress consort, Michiko, were very well liked in Japan. It was Akihito who carried on and really solidified Japan's pacifist stance in the modern world. Because of Akihito's stance, Japan's current prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has had some serious difficulty trying to re-militarize Japan.

The new era, in case anyone is curious, is called Reiwa. For us westerners, it doesn't mean much except for a new way to categorize our Godzilla movie collections.

Western countries with monarchy used to do that a lot more. You had Gustavian Sweden, Elizabethian England. Even in the 19th century, when centuries and decades had taken over, there was Oscarian Sweden and Victorian UK.

Which meant very little outside of west.

Also, there's a lot of thought that goes into naming a new era in Japan. It isn't just taking the Emperor's name and running with it. There was a big ceremony unveiling Reiwa to the country.

Informative post with a touch of real world application. I like.

Big news for Japan, since it's royal family is getting smaller. Only the men are allowed to retain their royal titles, while the women abandon the royal family to become commoners.