End of an era: Japan's emperor kicks off abdication rites
Tokyo: Draped in ornate golden-brown robes and wearing a towering black hat, Japan's Emperor Akihito on Tuesday kicked off ceremonies for his abdication, the first in 200 years for the world's oldest monarchy.
Akihito is handing over the Chrysanthemum Throne to his eldest son, 59-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito, in a series of solemn rituals that also usher in the new imperial era named "Reiwa" - meaning beautiful harmony - that will last throughout the new monarch's reign.
As crowds began to gather early Tuesday in drizzle outside the sumptuous Imperial Palace in central Tokyo, Akihito performed a ritual to "report" his abdication to his ancestors and the Shinto gods at several "sanctuaries".
But the main event will be at 5:00 pm local time, when the 85-year-old Akihito will formally step down in a 10-minute ceremony in the "Matsu-no-Ma" ("Room of Pine"), considered the Imperial Palace's most elegant hall.
The ritual will be conducted in the presence of the imperial regalia - an ancient sword and jewel - considered crucial evidence of an emperor's legitimacy.
However, Akihito nominally remains emperor until the stroke of midnight and Naruhito "inherits" the regalia at a second ceremony Wednesday at 10:30am, making his first official public remarks shortly afterwards.
Wednesday's ceremony is expected to be attended by just one woman -- the sole female member of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet. Female royals are prohibited from participating.
The ceremonies are not public but hardy bands of wellwishers congregated outside the palace on Tuesday morning, despite near-constant rain.
"I'd like to thank the emperor for his hard work," said 76-year-old Hironari Uemara, visiting Tokyo from Okayama in western Japan. His wife said she would miss Akihito and the outgoing imperial Heisei era.
"I feel like crying," she told AFP.
President Donald Trump was among the first world leaders to send congratulations, offering "heartfelt appreciation" to the outgoing imperial couple and stressing the "close relationship" between the US and Japan.
The popular Akihito stunned Japan when he announced in 2016 his wish to give up the Chrysanthemum Throne, citing his age and health problems - he has been treated for prostate cancer and has also undergone heart surgery.
There have been abdications in Japan's long imperial history, which has mythological origins and stretches back more than two millennia, but the last one was more than two centuries ago.
A more lavish and public enthronement ceremony attended by world leaders will take place on October 22.
Akihito has sought to modernise Japan's imperial family, which has a sensitive position given the role his father Hirohito played in the country's militaristic past.
Akihito and his wife Empress Michiko won plaudits for a popular touch, notably comforting people affected by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown that devastated whole swathes of east Japan and killed thousands.
Images of the couple kneeling and bowing to those in temporary shelters gave heart to the stricken nation and Akihito took the rare step of giving a televised address to reassure his people.
Like his father, Naruhito is seen as a modern royal and has previously issued mild criticism of the sometimes stifling lifestyle imposed on royals, particularly as his wife Masako has struggled to adapt to imperial life and has long battled stress-induced illness.
The new emperor inherits a country very different to when it last crowned a new emperor.
Then, Japan ruled the world economically in the middle of a technology-fuelled boom that caused soaring land prices and sparked wild cost comparisons: the Imperial Palace grounds were worth more than all of Canada.
Now, Japan's population is in decline and it is on course to become the world's first "ultra-aged" society, with 28 percent of people over 65.
The boom gave way to a "lost decade" of tepid economic growth and deflation from which Japan has not fully recovered.
The abdication has also reignited concerns about a potential succession crisis. There are no more eligible male heirs after the 12-year-old son of Naruhito's younger brother Akishino.
Japan's centuries-old succession would be broken if that child, Hisahito, does not have a son. The idea of letting women ascend the throne is popular with Japanese, but vehemently opposed by traditionalists.
The historic abdication has resulted in an unprecedented 10-day holiday for the famously hard-working Japanese, as special days off to mark the new emperor combine with the traditional "Golden Week" celebrations in May.
As the holiday kicked off over the weekend, bullet trains and airports were packed, but the exodus left the capital's commuter trains unusually empty.
Security was stepped up around the ceremonies, with divers combing through moats surrounding the palace and police dogs sniffing around the surrounding streets and gardens.
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Seven killed in B'luru govt hospital wall collapse, CM orders probe
Bengaluru (PTI): Seven people, including a child, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall of the city's Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital collapsed due to heavy rains here on Wednesday, police said.
Officials had initially said three children were killed, but the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) later clarified that only a six-year old girl was among the deceased.
The victims included those from Kerala, and had come here as part of a study tour.
When heavy rains, coupled with strong winds and a hailstorm, battered the area, victims taking shelter near a wall were trapped when it suddenly collapsed. Seven people were killed on the spot.
Police and emergency services personnel rushed to the spot with an earthmover to bring out the bodies and the injured from the debris with the help of other citizens.
Learning about the incident, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the spot along with the Greater Bengaluru Authority Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao and Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh to take stock of the situation.
Siddaramaiah took the GBA officials to task for the tragedy.
Briefing reporters after the spot inspection, the chief minister said, "Seven people have died....seven people are injured. All of them are stable. They are all out of danger. I have told the doctors to provide treatment free of cost."
"Rs 5 lakh solatium will be given to the kin of each deceased. Because, unfortunately, those who died are very poor people — traders, street vendors," he added.
Siddaramaiah said an inquiry will be conducted to find out why the wall collapsed.
"We will conduct an inquiry to see whether the engineers are at fault. If they are found responsible, action will be taken against them immediately," he said.
According to the CM, there was civil work going on inside the compound wall. The contractor was dumping soil against the compound wall.
He said that due to the pressure of soil dumped against it, the wall might have collapsed.
"Prima facie, it appears to have fallen due to that pressure. So I have asked the engineers — the Executive Engineer and Assistant Executive Engineer — whether they had checked if it had become weak or not," Siddaramaiah said.
No one knew there would be heavy and untimely rains, the CM said, adding that these were pre-monsoon rains.
Deputy CM and Minister in charge of Bengaluru, D K Shivakumar, who was in Kanakapura in Bengaluru South district, rushed to the city and visited the spot for inspection.
Speaking to reporters, he said some people took shelter against the wall as the rain started, due to which they died.
"I am deeply pained to learn about this incident. Such things should not have happened. Many trees have fallen, and vehicles were damaged. I will direct officials to cut the weak trees because there was a risk of such tragedies happening again during the monsoon".
According to him, four people from Kerala were affected, of whom two were killed in this tragedy.
"We will conduct the postmortem at the earliest and send the bodies to Kerala," Shivakumar said.
Officials in Kerala's Ernakulam said two members of Kudumbashree, Smitha and Latha, died in the wall collapse. They were natives of Ramamangalam in Ernakulam.
The Kudumbashree group had gone there as part of a study tour.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, R Ashoka, said the loss of innocent lives—children, street vendors and pedestrians who had sought shelter from the rain—is not just a natural calamity or accident; "it is a state-sponsored disaster born out of sheer administrative negligence."
"How many more lives must be sacrificed at the altar of poor infrastructure and civic apathy? While the Congress government indulges in tall claims of 'Brand Bengaluru,' the crumbling walls of a premier government hospital in the heart of the city tell a different, more lethal story. For this Congress Government, it seems the lives of the poor and the common man are disposable," he posted on 'X'.
BJP's State President B Y Vijayendra asked the Congress government in Karnataka to take responsibility for the incident, urging them to provide treatment to the injured and compensation to the families of the deceased.
