Former Japanese emperor Akihito, father of the current emperor, last month received a diagnosis of heart failure, but his condition has improved under treatment, an official at the Imperial Household Agency said on Tuesday.
Akihito, 88, stepped down in 2019 in the first abdication of a Japanese emperor in two centuries, saying he was not sure he was still up to the demands of the job.
Heart failure is a condition in which the heart muscle does not pump blood as well as it should. It can be treated. It differs from a heart attack where blood flow to the heart is suddenly blocked.
Photo: Reuters
Akihito last month was diagnosed with heart failure due to a faulty heart valve and has been undergoing treatment with medication, and through restricting activity and fluid intake since then, an Imperial Household Agency official said.
“Currently he is living life as usual,” the official said.
Akihito, the son of emperor Hirohito, spent much of his reign working to heal the wounds of a war waged across Asia in his father’s name, as well as bringing the monarchy closer to ordinary citizens.
He marked the 70th anniversary of World War II’s end in 2015 with an expression of “deep remorse,” a departure from previous remarks, that was seen by some as an effort to cement a legacy of pacifism.
“Looking back at the past, together with deep remorse over the war, I pray that this tragedy of war will not be repeated and together with the people, express my deep condolences for those who fell in battle and in the ravages of war,” he said on Aug. 15, 2015, the 70th anniversary of the war’s end.
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