By TATSURO SUGIURA/ Staff Writer
December 23, 2021 at 18:23 JST
Emperor Emeritus Akihito turned 88 on Dec. 23, a milestone birthday, making him the longest living emperor in recorded history in Japan.
The Imperial Household Agency says that he is healthy and is leading a normal life in retirement.
Of the successive Japanese emperors, for whom reliable records exist, he is the first to celebrate "beiju," which is how the celebratory 88th birthday is called in Japan.
This means he has lived longer than any of them, even outliving his father, Emperor Showa, who passed away at 87 in 1989.
According to the agency, Akihito, with Emperor Emerita Michiko, 87, walks in their garden every morning and evening as well as reading books aloud regularly.
He also speaks with his aids every day, on topics including what is in the news domestically and abroad such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
He sometimes tells stories to younger officials of his recollections of such momentous experiences as attending the coronation of Britain’s Elizabeth II in 1953.
He is well-known for his research on goby fishes. He published a total of 36 scientific papers, mainly on the goby, between 1963, when he was 29, and May 2021, when he was 87.
Academics who have jointly conducted research with Akihito commented, saying that they hope Akihito celebrates his beiju in good health and wish him well in the future.
Tetsuji Nakabo, 72, an honorary professor at Kyoto University, says, “Emperor Emeritus Akihito is respected as an ichthyologist in academia, too.”
He first met Akihito almost 40 years ago and they have conducted research together for a long time.
Nakabo says that Akihito was normally quiet in their early days of studying together as he is now. However, he adds, “(Akihito was) so sharp, almost scary, as far as his research was concerned. Superficial knowledge didn’t satisfy him. Therefore, preparation was essential for when I saw him."
Nakabo also says that Akihito formulates hypotheses based on his knowledge and experiences, and researches using his own personal observations, not relying entirely on books and documents. He says it’s an approach that all researchers should emulate.
Akihito published a paper on two new species of gobies he discovered in May in the online version of Ichthyological Research, a quarterly English journal of the Ichthyological Society of Japan.
He started writing the paper after he abdicated the throne and completed it despite the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the process. The paper brought the total number of new goby species that Akihito has discovered to 10.
Takashi Gojobori, 70, distinguished professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, has conducted research with Akihito on the taxonomy of the goby using DNA analysis.
They have jointly published three papers on this topic and are conducting further research with the aim of writing a fourth at the moment.
What Gojobori vividly remembers is how well Michiko supported Akihito while he dedicated himself to his research. She used to say thank-you to Akihito’s co-researchers including Gojobori and served them homemade sweets when they were taking a break.
Although he hasn’t met them since the COVID-19 outbreak began, he says, “I look forward to seeing them again and doing research (with Akihito). I would like to continue studying various topics with Emperor Emeritus Akihito in the future, too.”
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Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Emperor Emerita Michiko stroll in a garden at the Sento Imperial Palace in Tokyo's Minato Ward on March 31, 2021. (Provided by the Imperial Household Agency)
