Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko, for the first time after abdication, will make an official public appearance on January 2, Kyodo reported on Friday.

According to the source, they will take part in the New Year's greetings along with other members of the imperial family, TASS reported.

Akihito and Michiko will greet the assembled inhabitants of Japan three times in the morning. In this case, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will make a total of five such exits.

Congratulation of the emperor is one of the main New Year traditions in Japan. By tradition, the monarch and his family members greet their subjects from the balcony of the Imperial Palace closed with bulletproof glass.

Akihito took the throne in 1989 after the death of his father and became the first Japanese monarch to receive the throne under the post-war constitution. According to the current basic law, the emperor does not have the status of even a nominal head of state, and is proclaimed only as a symbol of the state and the unity of the people. The monarch in Japan is deprived of any real powers and performs purely ceremonial functions. By the way, Japan, which was called the empire before the war, is now officially called the State of Japan.

Naruhito ascended the throne on May 1 after his father voluntarily retired. On October 22, in Tokyo, the ceremony of introducing the new emperor to the country and the world took place, and numerous foreign guests were invited.