Clock passes midnight in Tokyo
Announced earlier today, Emperor Akihito's abdication formally came into effect at the top of the hour as the clock passed midnight in Tokyo.
His son, Crown Prince Naruhito, 59, will be inaugurated on Wednesday.
"I consider myself most fortunate to have been able to do so," he said at the small abdication ceremony."I sincerely wish, together with the Empress, that the Reiwa era, which begins tomorrow, will be a stable and fruitful one."
Japanese lawmakers changed laws to allow Akihito to retire, as he desired. He became emperor in 1989.
