TOKYO - In an unprecedented video message released Monday on his views about his role, Japan's elderly emperor expressed his concerns that his age and health could one day mean he cannot fully perform his duties.

After media reports that 82-year-old Emperor Akihito wishes to abdicate surprised the nation in mid-July, his televised statement presented the dilemma he faces in his role as "symbol of the state."

His concerns bring to the fore the lack of provision for an emperor to abdicate under the Imperial House Law as well as his right to retire, experts said.

"There are unreasonable aspects to Japan's imperial system," said Shojiro Sakaguchi, a law professor at Hitotsubashi University, noting that the emperor's rights are restricted under the system, including the right to express his views and marry freely.

"To justify the restriction of his human rights to that degree, he should have the choice to become emperor or not and one way to secure that right is to enable him to abdicate if he wishes," Sakaguchi said.

The current law only envisages succession after death and so would need to be changed, or special legislation would have to be enacted, for the emperor to hand over the throne to Crown Prince Naruhito, 56.

Emperor Akihito ascended to the chrysanthemum throne at age 55 upon the death in 1989 of his 87-year-old father Emperor Hirohito.

Emperor Akihito is the first emperor to have ascended the throne under Japan's postwar Constitution, which stipulates the emperor shall be "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." In the video message, he said that he has long been thinking about the role of such an emperor.

His father, posthumously known as Emperor Showa, renounced in January 1946 the widely held belief that he was a living god, following Japan's defeat in World War II.

The Constitution stipulates that the emperor "shall not have powers related to government" and "shall perform only such acts in matters of state as are provided for," such as the appointment of the prime minister as designated by the Diet, the promulgation of laws and the convocation of the Diet.

In performing such duties, Emperor Akihito signed and applied seals to documents in around 1,000 cases last year, in addition to attending a ceremony to convene a regular Diet session and ceremonies for newly appointed foreign ambassadors, which occurred almost weekly during certain parts of the year.

Furthermore, the emperor meets various guests at the Imperial Palace, including award recipients and foreign dignities, while conducting ritual ceremonies to pray throughout the year for the prosperity of the people of Japan, according to the Imperial Household Agency.

Outside the palace, the emperor, accompanied by Empress Michiko, 81, attends annual government-sponsored war memorial services and other ceremonies, and visits many welfare service-related facilities. They also go to museums and concerts to promote cultural development.

The imperial couple also traveled to former battlefields overseas, such as Saipan in 2005, Palau in 2015 and the Philippines in January, as part of their trips to pay tribute to those who lost their lives during the war.

Deadly earthquakes and other disasters prompted the emperor and empress to visit affected towns to encourage residents, with TV footage often showing the couple kneeling as they talked with evacuees in temporary shelters, an approach that is said to have helped bring the secluded imperial family closer to the public.

The destinations included Fukushima Prefecture and other areas in northeastern Japan that were hit hard by the massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 as well as Kumamoto Prefecture, which was hit by major quakes last April.

While the emperor is only required to act in matters of state as provided for in the Constitution, he has maintained a busy schedule by carrying out other work from the viewpoint of his role as the symbol of the state. The agency has thus described all of such activities as "official duties."

"In theory, they are something that the emperor does not have to do," said Yuji Otabe, a professor of modern Japanese history at Shizuoka University of Welfare, referring to the imperial couple's visits to places like disaster-affected regional towns and welfare facilities.

"Those activities are not stipulated in the Constitution but there is no doubt that such acts have worked effectively and favorably in the relationship between the imperial household and Japanese people. Such activities have also contributed to enhancing Japan's position in the international community," Otabe said.

The emperor said in the video message he has felt his trips to various locations across Japan, especially remote places and islands, are important activities as he believes it is essential "to stand by the people, listen to their voices and be close to them in their thoughts."

He also said that to fulfill the role of the emperor as a symbol of people's integration, he felt it necessary to nurture the realization that he should always be with the people in spirit and such trips aided him in this belief.

As for the workload of the emperor, a recent Kyodo News poll showed that 85.7 percent of respondents supported enabling him to abdicate and 89.5 percent agreed he has too many official duties.

But he said cutting the emperor's workload and appointing a regent if an emperor becomes incapacitated would not be an adequate solution. It would leave an emperor unable to perform his expected role still on the throne and could burden the people and emperor's family.

Conservatives are worried, however, about the consequences of allowing abdication, arguing that there may be a case in the future when an emperor is forced to step down against his wishes.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government has been studying the feasibility of legalizing abdication and related issues behind the scenes, with an eye to setting up a panel on the matter as early as this fall, according to sources close to the matter. Shortly after the release of the emperor's remarks, the prime minister said he took the words "seriously," adding the government "must...thoroughly consider" what it can do.

"The conditions under which an emperor can abdicate need to be thoroughly worked out," Sakaguchi said.

== Kyodo