In a move that will create a 10-day Golden Week holiday period in 2019, the government plans to designate May 1, when the new Emperor is planned to ascend the throne, as a one-off holiday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday.

Abe also said that a ritual marking the promotion of Prince Akishino, the younger son of current Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, to first in line to the throne will be held on April 19, 2020, about a year after his father becomes the first living Japanese monarch to step down in about 200 years.

"We will thoroughly prepare for (a series of rites) so that all the people can celebrate," Abe told the first meeting of a government committee responsible for working out the details of ceremonies for the Imperial succession.