The basic plan on the staging of ceremonies related to Emperor Akihito's abdication next year, and accession to the throne by Crown Prince Naruhito, will be compiled by mid-March, the government said Tuesday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who heads a new group tasked with preparing the ceremonies, told the first meeting of the entity Tuesday morning that the government will "do its best to smoothly hold" the rites. The abdication ceremony will be the first to be organized under the 1947 Japanese Constitution.
On Dec. 8, the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved the date for the abdication, scheduled for April 30, 2019. The 84-year-old Emperor's abdication will be Japan's first in more than 200 years.