In Photos: Key moments in reign of Emperor Akihito

New Emperor Akihito, right, takes part in the Kenji-to-Shokei-no-Gi ceremony to inherit the Imperial Regalia and the State and Privy seals as proof of his succession to the throne, at the "Matsu no Ma" room in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Jan. 7, 1989. (Pool photo)

New Emperor Akihito signs a government ordinance to change the era name from Showa to Heisei at the "Ho-o no Ma" room in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Jan. 7, 1989. (Pool photo)

New Emperor Akihito accompanied by new Empress Michiko makes his first speech as part of the Sokui-go-Choken-no-Gi ceremony, the first public ceremony after his accession, at the "Matsu no Ma" room in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Jan. 9, 1989. (Pool photo)

Emperor Akihito takes part in the Sokuirei-Seiden-no-Gi ceremony, in which the new Emperor proclaims the enthronement and receives felicitations of representatives from Japan and abroad, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Nov. 12, 1990. (Mainichi/Shintaro Yoshida)

Empress Michiko takes part in the Sokuirei-Seiden-no-Gi ceremony, in which the new Emperor proclaims the enthronement and receives felicitations of representatives from Japan and abroad, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Nov. 12, 1990. (Mainichi/Shintaro Yoshida)

Emperor Akihito makes a speech on the "Takamikura" stage as part of the Sokuirei-Seiden-no-Gi ceremony, in which the new Emperor proclaims the enthronement and receives felicitations of representatives from Japan and abroad, at the "Matsu no Ma" room at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Nov. 12, 1990. Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu is standing in front of him. (Pool photo)

Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu, front left, celebrates the enthronement of Emperor Akihito as part of the Sokuirei-Seiden-no-Gi ceremony at the "Matsu no Ma" room in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Nov. 12, 1990. Emperor Akihito is seen on the "Takamikura" stage, left, and Empress Michiko is on the "Michodai" stage. (Photo courtesy of the Management and Coordination Agency)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko wave to well-wishers during a parade from the Imperial Palace in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward to the Akasaka Palace in Minato Ward after his official enthronement ceremony on Nov. 12, 1990. (Mainichi/Katsumi Takahashi)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko greet Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana at a banquet after his official enthronement ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Nov. 12, 1990. (Photo courtesy of the Imperial Household Agency)

Emperor Akihito, front left, and Empress Michiko, right, make a toast at a welcome banquet hosted by Chinese President Yang Shangkun in Beijing on Oct. 23, 1992, during the first ever visit of a Japanese emperor to China. (Pool photo)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko offer bouquets to the Himeyuri Monument, a cenotaph for female student corps members that served as nurses for Japanese soldiers during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, in the prefectural city of Itoman on April 23, 1993, during the first ever visit by an emperor to Okinawa. (Mainichi)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko speak to bereaved families of the victims of the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 at the Okinawa Peace Hall in the city of Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 23, 1993 during the first ever visit by an emperor to Okinawa. (Mainichi)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, left, receive a greeting from Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, right, just after the latters' wedding ceremony, at the "Matsu no Ma" room in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, on June 9, 1993. (Pool photo)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko offer a silent prayer for victims of the Jan. 17, 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake in front of the site of the Sugahara market, where many people died due to a fire following the jolt, in Kobe's Nagata Ward on Jan. 31, 1995. (Mainichi/Kenji Yoneda)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko speak to survivors of the Jan. 17, 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake at a municipal gymnasium used as an evacuation center in the city of Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, on Jan. 31, 1995. (Mainichi/Kenjiro Sato)

Emperor Akihito guides South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who was officially visiting Japan, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Oct. 7, 1998. (Pool photo)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visit the "Braille Mainichi," Japan's only Braille newspaper that has independently gathered news and information for the visually impaired since 1922, at The Mainichi Newspapers Osaka Head Office in Osaka's Kita Ward, on Nov. 17, 1999. (Mainichi/Yujiro Kaneko)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko offer a silent prayer at Banzai Cliff, where many Japanese refused to surrender to U.S. forces and jumped into the sea to their deaths in 1944 while praising Emperor Hirohito, the father of Akihito, on the Pacific island of Saipan on June 28, 2005. (Pool photo)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko enjoy playing tennis at the court where they met for the first time in the town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, on Aug. 24, 2010. (Mainichi/Koichiro Tezuka)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko speak to evacuees from the Fukushima Prefecture town of Futaba, where the March 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station occurred, at Kisai High School in the city of Kazo, Saitama Prefecture, on April 8, 2011. (Pool photo)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko offer a silent prayer toward an area which was seriously damaged by tsunamis following the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, in the town of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, on April 27, 2011. (Pool photo)

Emperor Akihito chats with U.S. President Barack Obama, who was officially visiting Japan, at a banquet at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on April 24, 2014. (Pool photo)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko speak to Kiyokazu Tsuchida, a former Japanese soldier who survived the battle of Peleliu Island in 1944, in front of a cenotaph for victims of World War II, on the Pacific island of Palau on April 9, 2015. (Pool photo)

Emperor Akihito expresses his apparent desire to abdicate at a reception room in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Aug. 7, 2016. The recorded video message was shown to the public on TV the next day. (Photo courtesy of the Imperial Household Agency)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko talk with two-time Olympic figure skating gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu, center, at the spring garden party at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, on April 25, 2018. (Mainichi/Junichi Sasaki)

Emperor Akihito, third from front left, and Empress Michiko, third from front right, pose for a commemorative photo for New Year's Day in 2019 with their two sons, daughters-in-law and four grandchildren at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Dec. 3, 2018. (Photo courtesy of the Imperial Household Agency)

Emperor Akihito, third from left, visits Ise Jingu shrine in the city of Ise, Mie Prefecture, on April 18, 2019, for a ritual related to his upcoming abdication. Brought in separate boxes are the Imperial sword, front, and jewel, two of the family's three sacred treasures that play a key role in the succession. (Pool photo)