According to CNN:
Japan’s Emperor Akihito formally abdicated Tuesday during a historic ceremony in Tokyo, becoming the country’s first monarch to step down from the Chrysanthemum Throne in two centuries.
Outside, throngs of well-wishers, both Japanese and visitors from overseas, waited in the rain-soaked grounds.
In a rare instance of speaking live on television, the ruler said that he had performed his duties as the emperor with a “deep sense of trust and respect” for the Japanese people.
“I sincerely wish, together with the Empress, that the Reiwa era, which begins tomorrow, will be a stable and fruitful one.”
