"The World and Japan" Database (Project Leader: TANAKA Akihiko)
Database of Japanese Politics and International Relations
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS); Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), The University of Tokyo

[Title] Statement by Prime Minister Abe on the Imperial Household Council Meeting

[Place]
[Date] December 1, 2017
[Source] Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet
[Notes]
[Full text]

Today an Imperial House Council meeting was held. The Council decided on the view that the Special Measures Law on the Imperial Household Law should be put into effect on April 30, 2019.

The abdication of His Majesty the Emperor will be the first in about 200 years and the first such case in our constitutional history. Today the view of the Imperial House Council was decided smoothly and a great deal of progress was made towards the succession of the Imperial Throne, filling me with deep emotion.

Based on this view of the Imperial House Council, the government will swiftly enact a cabinet order stipulating the day the Special Measures Law is to enter into effect. We will put forth every possible effort to ensure that the abdication of His Majesty the Emperor and the accession of His Highness the Crown Prince to the Imperial Throne takes place without incident amidst the good wishes of the Japanese people.