日本天皇欲生前退位 200年來第一次

Emperor Akihito of Japan Plans to Abdicate Throne, Broadcaster Says

日本天皇欲“生前退位”，200年來第一次

TOKYO — For the first time in nearly two centuries, an emperor of Japan has said that he will abdicate the throne before he dies.

東京——近兩個世紀以來的第一次，有日本天皇決定在離世前退位。

According to NHK, the public broadcaster in Japan, Emperor Akihito, 82, who in 1989 succeeded his father, the wartime Emperor Hirohito, told close aides that he intended to pass the throne to his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, 56, before he dies. No modern emperor has done so: The last emperor to abdicate was Emperor Kokaku, in 1817.

明仁天皇現年82歲。1989年，他繼承戰時的天皇——父親裕仁天皇的皇位。根據NHK的報道，明仁天皇告訴身邊的助手，他有意在離世前將皇位傳給自己的兒子——現年56歲的皇太子德仁。這樣的舉動在現代可謂史無前例：上一位退位的天皇是於1817年退位的光格天皇(Emperor Kokaku)。

The emperor’s role is now entirely ceremonial. Until the end of World War II, the Japanese public revered the emperor as a demigod, and he served as commander in chief of the army. After Hirohito surrendered at the end of World War II, the country’s U.S. occupiers stripped him of all political authority.

今天，天皇的職能完全是儀式性的。在“二戰”結束之前，日本民衆像對待次神一般崇敬天皇。同時，天皇擔任軍隊的總指揮。裕仁天皇在“二戰”末期投降之後，美國佔領者剝奪了他所有的政治權力。

According to NHK, Akihito, who was treated for prostate cancer in 2003 and underwent heart surgery in 2012, plans to make a formal announcement shortly.

根據NHK的報道，在2003年和2012年分別接受前列腺癌治療和心臟手術的明仁天皇，計劃不久將正式宣佈退位。

“It’s a tiring job,” said Robert Dujarric, director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo. “He’s getting old.”

“這份工作很累人，”天普大學東京校區當代亞洲研究所(Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo)的所長羅伯特·杜加里克(Robert Dujarric)說，“他年齡越來越大了。”

Akihito may be trying to avoid the drama of his own succession. His father was ill for many years before his death.

明仁天皇可能希望藉此避免自己繼承王位時的戲劇性。他的父親去世前就已抱病多年。

“This emperor seems to want to make it easier and make it more matter of fact,” said Sheila A. Smith, senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

“天皇似乎希望讓繼承事務更簡潔、更實事求是，”華盛頓的美國外交關係委員會(Council on Foreign Relations)資深日本事務研究員希拉·A·史密斯(Sheila A. Smith)說道。

After the NHK report, however, the Asahi Shimbun, a left-leaning newspaper, reported that Shinichiro Yamamoto, deputy director of the Imperial Household Agency, denied the abdication report, saying that the emperor had “no such intention.”

然而，在NHK的報道出來後，左傾報紙《朝日新聞》報道，宮內廳(Imperial Household Agency)次長山本信一郎(Shinichiro Yamamoto)否認了天皇要退位的報道，稱他“沒有這樣的打算”。

A spokesman for the Imperial Household Agency could not immediately be reached for comment.

記者無法立即聯繫到宮內廳的發言人對此事置評。

The report of the planned abdication comes just three days after the Liberal Democratic Party of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and its allies won a commanding victory in parliamentary elections, capturing two-thirds of the seats in the upper house, the amount required to initiate a constitutional revision. Abe has long had an ambition to overturn the constitutional clause that calls for Japan’s complete renunciation of war.

退位報道出現在日本國會選舉僅三天之後。在本次選舉中，首相安倍晉三的自民黨及其盟友贏得舉足輕重的勝利，獲參議院三分之二席位，達到啓動憲法修訂所需的議員數量。安倍一直以來都渴望推翻要求日本完全放棄戰爭的憲法條款。

Although the emperor has no official political authority, Naruhito could offer a counterpoint to Abe’s goals.

雖然天皇沒有實權，但德仁繼位可以提供一個對立於安倍目標的支點。