TOKYO (Reuters) - The 100-year-old uncle of Japanese Emperor Akihito, Prince Mikasa, died on Thursday, leaving only four heirs to the Chrysanthemum throne, the Imperial Household Agency said.

Mikasa’s death coincides with renewed attention to the future of the aging and shrinking imperial family and whether women should be allowed to inherit the throne, breaking a males-only succession tradition that conservatives say is central to an imperial tradition stretching back 2,600 years.

Mikasa was the youngest brother of the current emperor’s father, Hirohito, in whose name Japan fought World War Two

The prince, a scholar of ancient Oriental history, taught at colleges, and served as honorary president of the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan and the Japan-Turkey Society.

Emperor Akihito, 82, hinted in August that he wanted to abdicate - a step unprecedented in modern Japan and not possible under current law. The remaining four male heirs include 10-year-old Prince Hisahito, the emperor’s only grandson.

The three older heirs are Akihito’s 80-year-old brother and his two middle-aged sons including Crown Prince Naruhito. </s> Prince Mikasa, uncle of Emperor Akihito, died on Thursday, government sources said. He was 100.

He has been in and out of the hospital due to pneumonia since May. He died at 8:34 a.m. on Thursday in a Tokyo hospital after his condition deteriorated, the sources said.

He was fifth in line to succeed the Chrysanthemum Throne. With his death, there are now four heirs in the Imperial family — Crown Prince Naruhito, Prince Akishino, Prince Hisahito and Prince Hitachi, the younger brother of Emperor Akihito.

The prince was the oldest member of the Imperial family, living through the reign of three different Emperors, in the Taisho, Showa and Heisei eras. He was the only living royal family member to have served in the military during the Sino-Japanese war from 1937 and the Pacific Theater of World War II.

Prince Mikasa was born on Dec. 2, 1915, the fourth son of Emperor Taisho. His eldest brother was Emperor Hirohito, posthumously called Emperor Showa.

The prince served as an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army after graduating from the army’s college. He was posted to Nanjing, China, under a pseudonym for one year from 1943. In a book published after the end of the war, he expressed a sense of guilt over his failure to fully grasp the criminality of war.

With his wife, Princess Yuriko, Prince Mikasa had three sons and two daughters. Prince Takamado, Tomohito and Katsura all preceded him in death, in 2002, 2012 and 2014, respectively.

The prince was known as a scholar of ancient Oriental history and served as honorary president of the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan and the Japan-Turkey Society. </s> Emperor Akihito’s uncle Prince Mikasa, who died of heart failure Thursday at the age of 100, spent the last years of his life peacefully at his residence in Tokyo, taking strolls and enjoying his daily studies and exercise.

The prince, before he became wheelchair-bound in recent years, often took walks with his wife, Princess Yuriko, 93, in the Akasaka Imperial Grounds and enjoyed sunbathing in his garden on sunny days, according to palace staff and others who knew him.

He would wake up at 4 a.m. every morning, listen to a foreign-language learning program on the radio and exercise for about 30 minutes.

An avid reader of newspapers, Prince Mikasa also enjoyed watching sumo wrestling and popular music shows on TV. He abstained from eating meat.

Palace staff and others say the prince, who appeared hale, was always supporting Princess Yuriko, who needs a stick to walk.

Prince Mikasa would leave his residence about once a week to attend birthday ceremonies for Imperial family members, or to have his hair cut.

As a researcher, the prince pursued his academic interests and devoted himself to the study of ancient Oriental history at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Tokyo.

Later, he taught at such universities as Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and the Tokyo University of the Arts.

The prince made many appearances on radio and television cultural programs and was affectionately called the “Imperial scholar.”

He survived his three sons, Princes Takamado, Tomohito and Katsura, who died in 2002, 2012 and 2014, respectively.

When his granddaughter Princess Noriko, the second daughter of Prince Takamado, married in October 2014, Prince Mikasa attended her wedding party in Tokyo..

During his hospitalization in an intensive-care unit at St. Luke’s International Hospital, Princess Yuriko frequently visited him along with other Imperial family members.

Although his health was up and down during his hospitalization, the prince responded to visitors, according to a person familiar with his condition. In June, the Emperor and Empress Michiko also visited him there.

The Imperial Household Agency said it will consider the date and venue of the funeral for the prince, adding that the Imperial family will go into mourning for seven to 90 days beginning Thursday.

The agency also said this year’s autumn garden party hosted by the Emperor and Empress will be canceled. </s> The death of Prince Mikasa — the 100-year-old uncle of Emperor Akihito who was one of only five men in line for the Chrysanthemum throne — has once again put the spotlight on the issue of Imperial succession and the dwindling size of the Imperial family.

After the prince’s death Thursday, Imperial Household Agency Grand Steward Shinichiro Yamamoto acknowledged at a regular news conference that the succession issue is a problem and something that poses “a major challenge.”

Behind the scenes, the agency has called on the government to debate ways to secure a stable Imperial succession protocol, including the possible enthronement of female members, accession by heirs of female lineage, or the establishment of female branches of the Imperial family.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government, however, has not asked a government panel studying the Emperor’s possible abdication to deal with such topics due to their lower priority and fears of how long the discussions will last.

The prince’s death leaves only four eligible heirs to the throne. They are, in order, Crown Prince Naruhito, 56; his younger brother, Prince Akishino, 50; Prince Hisahito, 10; and the Emperor’s 80-year-old brother, Prince Hitachi. Only male members of the family line can ascend the throne under the 1947 Imperial House Law.

In the past 15 years, the Imperial family has had just two births — Princess Aiko, the 14-year-old daughter of Crown Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako, and Prince Hisahito, who is Prince Akishino’s son. Seven members have left the family due to death or marriage, bringing the total to 19.

The panel was established last month to discuss how to alleviate the burden on the 82-year-old Emperor following his rare video message in August, in which he expressed his readiness to abdicate should his health deteriorate in the future.

At present, only posthumous succession is allowed as the Imperial House Law lacks a provision for abdication.

More than a decade ago, there was intense debate under the government of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi about the possibility of revising the Imperial House Law to enable female members or heirs of female lineage to ascend the throne.

Koizumi eventually gave up on submitting a bill on the matter in September 2006, a move that many believe was linked to the birth of Prince Hisahito — the first new male member in 41 years — the same month.

Abe, who was chief Cabinet secretary at the time, played a key role in the decision, according to sources close to the matter.

Koizumi was concerned, despite the birth of Prince Hisahito, that Imperial succession may become unsustainable in the future, the sources said.

Abe, for his part, pushed for dropping the idea of seeking an amendment, saying, “Now is not time to revise the law,” the sources added.

“The idea of maintaining the Imperial throne only by heirs to male lineage is close to (Abe’s) strong belief,” said a source from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Abe is known to be against extending eligibility for the throne to Imperial family members of female lineage and enabling female members to stay within the family after marriage.

Abe said in a contributed article to monthly publication Bungei Shunju’s February 2012 edition that he was “clearly opposed” to having a female emperor.

During a Diet session this past February, Abe said it will be important to consider “the weight of the fact that succession by heirs of male lineage has continued without exception since ancient times.”

In 2012, the government led by the former Democratic Party of Japan, the opposition predecessor of the Democratic Party, studied the idea of establishing female branches of the Imperial family so women could stay within the family after marriage.

However, their research drew opposition from the conservative electorate.

The debates pertaining to those issues died down as Abe and the Liberal Democratic Party returned to power later in the year, with Abe expressing a negative stance to such ideas.

During a news conference on Thursday morning immediately after Prince Mikasa passed away, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga ruled out the possibility of adding the issue of how to grapple with the decreasing number of Imperial family members to the topics to be discussed by the government panel.

Abe’s government is seeking to avoid long debate as it aims to submit a relevant bill to an ordinary Diet session next year to make it possible for only Emperor Akihito to abdicate, according to a ranking government official.

Later Thursday, Suga stressed the importance of measures dealing with the aging and shrinking of the Imperial family, saying at an afternoon news conference they are “problems that should not be unnecessarily shelved,” but he did not elaborate or clarify when the discussions would start.

The issue of sustainability of Imperial succession was not touched on in the panel’s second session Thursday, despite the fact it was held hours after the prince’s death, according to a government official who took part.

A former senior government official who took part in discussions over the revision of the Imperial House Law said, “The crisis of the Imperial household will worsen if the Abe administration doesn’t discuss the matter.” </s> TOKYO: Japan’s parliament passed a law Friday that clears the way for its ageing Emperor Akihito to step down, in what would be the first imperial abdication in more than two centuries.

The popular 83-year-old monarch shocked the country last summer when he signaled his desire to take a back seat after nearly three decades on the Chrysanthemum Throne, citing his age and health problems.

The unexpected move presented a challenge since there was no law to deal with an emperor retiring from what is usually a job for life—and it reignited debate about allowing women to ascend the male-only throne.

The one-off rule was passed in the last-stage upper house on Friday in a unanimous decision after the lower chamber gave its stamp of approval last week.

The abdication must take place within three years—and it only applies to Akihito.

Tokyo is eyeing the end of 2018 as a likely timeline for his retirement, Japanese media said.

The status of the emperor is sensitive in Japan given its 20th century history of war waged in the name of Akihito’s father Hirohito, who died in 1989.

Some worried that changing the law to allow any emperor to abdicate could put Japan’s future monarchs at risk of being subject to political manipulation.

Akihito, who has been treated for prostate cancer and had heart surgery, is expected to step aside in favor of his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, 57.

There have been abdications in Japan’s long imperial history, but the last one was more than 200 years ago, so politicians had to craft new legislation to make it possible.

“The one-off law is a result of political compromises, but it will become a precedent for future abdications,” said Setsu Kobayashi, a constitutional expert and professor emeritus at Japan’s Keio University.

‘Casual image’

 Akihito was born in 1933 just as Japan was embarking on its militaristic sweep across Asia, and was 11 when the war ended in defeat.

His father was allowed to remain on the throne after Japan’s defeat, but his status was downgraded from semi-devine sovereign to a figurehead with no political power.

Akihito embraced the role and tried to use it to help heal the scars of the war while remolding one of the world’s oldest monarchies for a democratic age.

Even before he assumed the throne, Akihito broke with tradition when he married the daughter of a wealthy flour magnate in 1959, becoming the first imperial heir to wed a commoner.

The emperor and his wife Empress Michiko are seen as being the more accessible face of a monarchy that largely remains in the shadows, unlike the British royals.

The couple have frequently attended public events and console victims of natural disasters, including Japan’s 2011 quake-tsunami disaster.

Akihito is barred from commenting on politics, but he has over the years hinted at his own anti-nationalist views.

Speaking at a memorial marking the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender, Akihito expressed “deep remorse” for the country’s actions in World War II. </s> Japan’s parliament passed a law Friday to allow Emperor Akihito to abdicate and be succeeded by his elder son, Crown Prince Naruhito, 57.

Akihito, 83, who has had heart surgery and treatment for prostate cancer, last summer indicated his desire to abdicate after nearly three decade on the Chrysanthemum Throne, reviving a longstanding debate in Japan over the issue of Imperial succession in the 2,000-year-old monarchy.

The abdication would be Japan’s first in 200 years. Akihito was 56 when he ascended the throne in January 1989 after the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito.

Media reports have said officials are considering the end of 2018, when Akihito turns 85, for the abdication.

In a vote televised live on NHK public television, the upper house of parliament passed the bill unanimously Friday, after the lower chamber gave its approval last week.

The abdication must take place within three years of the new law taking effect or it expires, and it only applies to Akihito.

The last Japanese emperor to abdicate was Kokaku in 1817. </s> A 112-year-old person from Japan has been recognised as the world's oldest living man.

Masazo Nonaka from Japan was given the title on Tuesday after the previous holder, Francisco Nunez Olivera from Spain, passed away in February at the age of 113.

Far from being a health fanatic, however, Mr Nonaka's family revealed he has a rather surprising secret to his longevity.

The supercentenarian puts his resilience down to a love of sweets and hot baths.

Mr. Nonaka, from Ashoro, Japan, was born on July 25, 1905 - just months before Albert Einstein published his theory of special relativity.

He currently lives with his family, who own and manages a 105-year-old hot springs inn.

"He needs a wheelchair to move but he is in good condition," said Yuko Nonaka, his granddaughter.

"He loves eating any kinds of sweets - Japanese or western style," she told AFP.

"He reads newspapers everyday and often soaks in the hot springs."

Mr Nonaka has seven brothers and one sister who live nearby in the town of Ashoro on Hokkaido.

He married Hatsuno in 1931 and the couple had five children, according to Guinness World Records.

According to his granddaughter Yuno, he grew up in a large family and succeeded his parents running the inn. He regularly soaks in the springs and also enjoys eating sweets, especially cakes.

Mr Nonaka, wearing a knit cap and a kimono-style jacket, flashed a smile and posed for a group photo with his family, making a victory sign with his right hand.

He dug into the cake after it was cut and served, and said, "Delicious," NHK public television reported.

Nonaka has outlived all seven of his siblings, as well as his wife and two of their five children.

Guinness World Records is currently investigating possible contenders for the title of oldest living person as no one has been recognised since Violet Brown from Jamaica died in July 2017, aged 117.

Japan, known for the longevity of its people, has been home to several oldest title holders, including Jiroemon Kimura, who died in June 2013 at the age of 116.

There are around 68,000 people aged 100 or older in the country, the government said last year. </s> Japan’s parliament has passed a law allowing Emperor Akihito to become the first monarch to abdicate in 200 years, but put off a debate over how to tackle the shrinking royal population including male successors.

The 83-year-old emperor expressed his apparent wish to abdicate last August, citing his old age and health.

Under the law, an abdication must take place within three years.

The current succession rules allow only men from the paternal bloodline and prohibit women from ascending the 2,000-year-old Chrysanthemum Throne. Only women are forced to renounce their royal status when they marry a commoner.

Prime minister Shinzo Abe’s ultra-conservative government supports the male-only succession, which will make 57-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito next in line to the throne.

But Naruhito’s only child is a girl, and his younger brother Prince Akishino has two adult daughters and a 10-year-old son, Hisahito. This means only one of the emperor’s four grandchildren is an eligible heir.

After Naruhito’s daughter was born, a government panel discussed the possibility of allowing female emperors, but the talk quickly faded as soon as Hisahito was born.

Akihito’s abdication has rekindled concerns about a shortage of heirs.

Mr Abe’s government avoided divisive issues involving the status of female royals, which would require a time-consuming and broader overhaul of the outdated 1947 Imperial House Law.

His ruling party reluctantly agreed to adopt a non-binding attachment to the law calling for the government to study ways to improve the status of princesses, including allowing them to keep their titles so they can make up for the declining royal membership and perform some public duties.

The abdication law only applies to Akihito as an exception and expires in three years, a way to avoid putting future monarchs at risk of forcible abdication due to political manipulation.

Media reports have said officials are considering Akihito’s abdication at the end of 2018, when he turns 85 and marks 30 years on the throne, but no official date has been announced yet.

The 1947 Imperial House Law does not provide for abdication. The last emperor to abdicate was Kokaku in 1817. </s> Japan’s parliament on Friday passed a law allowing Emperor Akihito to become the country’s first monarch to abdicate in 200 years, but put off a debate over how to tackle the shrinking royal population and whether to allow women to ascend the throne.

In veiled language, the 83-year-old emperor expressed his wish to abdicate last August, citing his old age and health.

Under the law enacted Friday, his abdication must take place within three years.

Current succession rules allow only men from the paternal bloodline to ascend the 2,000-year-old Chrysanthemum Throne. Women, but not men, are forced to renounce their royal status if they marry a commoner.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative government supports male-only succession. Akihito’s son, 57-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito, is next in line.

Naruhito’s only child is a girl, and his younger brother, Prince Akishino, has two adult daughters and a 10-year-old son, Hisahito. This means only one of the emperor’s four grandchildren is an eligible heir.

After Naruhito’s daughter was born, a government panel discussed the possibility of allowing female ascension, but the talk quickly faded after Hisahito’s birth.

Akihito’s coming abdication has rekindled concerns about a shortage of heirs.

The Abe government avoided taking up divisive issues involving the status of female royals, which would have required a time-consuming and broader overhaul of the 1947 Imperial House Law.

To secure opposition support, the ruling party did agree to a non-binding attachment to the bill calling on the government to study ways to improve the status of princesses.

That could include allowing them to keep their titles so that they can make up for the declining royal membership and continue to perform some royal family public duties.

The abdication law applies only to Akihito and expires in three years, to avoid putting future monarchs at risk of forcible abdication due to political manipulation. The law was needed because the 1947 Imperial House Law does not provide for abdication.

Japanese media reports have said officials are considering having Akihito abdicate at the end of 2018, when he would turn 85 and mark nearly 30 years on the throne. No date has been announced yet.

The last emperor to abdicate was Kokaku in 1817.
Japan's Prince Mikasa, the oldest member of the Imperial Family, dies at the age of 100.