Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga
(Abridged)

Q&As

REPORTER: I have a question about the Advisory Council on Easing the Burden of the Official Duties and Public Activities of His Majesty the Emperor. Yesterday the council began interviews with experts and on the question of whether they accepted abdication of the Emperor, opinion among the experts was split. What is your view of this outcome?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Yesterday opinions were sought from five people with expert knowledge in the fields of the Imperial system and history, and the members of the Advisory Council engaged in a candid exchange of opinions with these people. I understand that the people who were interviewed had various opinions from their expert perspectives. The Government hopes that in the next round of interviews the Advisory Council will listen carefully to the opinions expressed and continue to engage in discussions without prejudice about easing the burden of the official duties and public activities of His Majesty. It is a fact that as people with diverse expert knowledge are being interviewed, they will express varying opinions. The Government expects that through these interviews various issues and challenges will be set out for wider public discussion and that these people with expert knowledge will formulate a set of recommendations that broadly reflects the sentiments of the people of Japan.

REPORTER: You have just noted that a broad range of opinions will be expressed on the various themes to be covered by the Council, so do you think that it will be possible to condense all these opinions into a single unified direction when it comes to compiling the final recommendations?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: In any event, the Government expects that the Advisory Council will identify issues and challenges that need to be resolved and convey these to the public, engaging in further discussions to compile a set of recommendations that broadly reflects the sentiments of the people of Japan. Whatever the case, this process is something that the Government would like to leave in the hands of the members of the Advisory Council.

(Abridged)