The Emperor of Japan and his wife are currently in the UK, making an official state visit to take part in the 60th-anniversary celebration of Queen Elizabeth. The Emperor gave a speech thanking the British people for the warm assistance they rendered in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunamis last year. Emperor Akihito — oddly, many Japanese people don’t know this name, as he’s referred to by various formal labels in Japanese — is 125th in an unbroken line of emperors dating back 2000 years. Each Emperor’s reign is marked by an “era” name, like the Showa Period (1926-1989), when the current Emperor’s father Hirohito reigned, and when you live in Japan you become quite adept at converting important dates to the Japanese system (for example, I was born in Showa 43, which translates to 1968). This year is Heisei 24, the 24th year of the reign of the current Emperor, but he recently underwent coronary bypass surgery, and it’s becoming apparently that the Heisei Period might not go on for too many more years.
The Emperor, while kind of cool, cannot shoot lightning out of his hands.
