Imperial Family

Japan’s Emperor Emeritus Turns 92, Spends Peaceful Days Despite Heart Illness

Courtesy of the Imperial Household Agency
The Emperor Emeritus chats with the Empress Emerita in the garden of the Sento Imperial Residence in Minato Ward, Tokyo, on Dec. 8.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:24 JST, December 23, 2025

The Emperor Emeritus turned 92 on Tuesday.

This year, the Emperor Emeritus was diagnosed with asymptomatic myocardial ischemia, an illness that reduces blood flow to cardiac muscle but does not have noticeable symptoms, and has been hospitalized twice. His condition has been relatively stable, and he is taking medication and spending peaceful days with the Empress Emerita.

In May and July the Emperor Emeritus was admitted to the University of Tokyo Hospital for tests and treatment. Doctors detected supraventricular arrhythmia, which quickens the pulse, but the administration of a drug to alleviate cardiac stress was effective. As a result, the Emperor Emeritus was able to travel to recuperate in Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture in August and in Hayama in Kanagawa Prefecture in October for the first time in three years.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and the Emperor Emeritus was among those reflecting on the war. On Aug. 15, the day Japan surrendered 80 years ago, in particular, the Emperor Emeritus prayed silently with the Empress Emerita and then read a book of essays about former Japanese detainees in Mongolia after the war written by Hiroshi Masuda, the head of the Memorial Museum for Soldiers, Detainees in Siberia, and Postwar Repatriates in Tokyo.

The elder Imperial couple also reportedly watched over the Emperor and the Empress as they paid commemorative visits to various locations.

Monarchs and other royal family members came to Japan from many countries to visit the Osaka-Kansai Expo this year. The Emperor Emeritus has known many of them well for a long time, and he and the Empress Emerita enjoyed reunions with Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg and Princess Astrid of Belgium at their residence in Tokyo.

The Emperor Emeritus continues his studies on goby fish, which is his life’s work, at the Imperial Palace’s biological laboratory and other places three times a week. He also takes part remotely in meetings on fish classification held by the National Museum of Nature and Science about once a month to learn the latest information about the subject.

Birthday celebrations for the Emperor Emeritus are to be held in a simple fashion, similar to last year.