What is the status and role of the Japanese royal family? Akihito has brought the Japanese royal family into the modern world. Unlike Queen Elizabeth II, who raises an independent income from the Duchy of Lancaster, the Japanese royal family has virtually no individual source of wealth, and relies entirely on the taxpayer to support it. On the verge of retirement, it is difficult to understand what a trailblazer he has been as the first fully fledged “human” emperor. “I realised that the emperor has given his best to each individual public duty.

Source: The Guardian August 08, 2016 16:01 UTC