is the current of Japan, and the 125th emperor according to Japan's traditional order of succession. He acceded to the throne in 1989, and so is the 23rd most senior monarch or lifelong leader; he is the world's only reigning monarch with the title of emperor.

In Japan, the Emperor is never referred to by his given name, but rather is referred to as , which may be shortened to . In writing, the Emperor is also referred to formally as . The Era of Akihito's reign bears the name "Heisei" (), and according to custom he will be named "the Heisei Emperor" (平成天皇; see "posthumous name") after his death by order of the cabinet, in which the name of the next Era under his successor will also be established.

Akihito is the eldest son and the fourth child of the Shōwa Emperor (Hirohito) and the Empress Kōjun (Nagako). Titled as a child, he was raised and educated by his private tutors and then attended the Elementary and Secondary Departments of the Peers' School (Gakushuin) from 1940 to 1952. Unlike his precedents in the royal family, he did not receive a commission as an army officer, at the request from his father Hirohito.

During the American firebombing raids on Tokyo in March 1945, he and his younger brother, HIH Prince Masahito, were evacuated from the city. During the American occupation of Japan following World War II, Prince Akihito was tutored in English by Elizabeth Gray Vining. He briefly studied at the Department of Political Science at Gakushuin University in Tokyo, though he never received a degree. Although he was heir-apparent to the Chrysanthemum Throne from the moment of his birth, his formal was held at the Kokyo Imperial Palace on November 10 1952.

In June 1953, Crown Prince Akihito represented Japan at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

Then-Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko made official visits to thirty-seven countries. The Crown Prince assumed the throne after the death of his father on January 7 1989, thus becoming the 125th Japanese monarch, according to the traditional order of succession. Emperor Akihito was formally enthroned as the Emperor of Japan on November 12 1990. In 1998, during a state visit to the United Kingdom he was invested with The Most Noble Order of the Garter.

In December of 2002, it was reported that Emperor Akihito had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent surgery for the condition and his surgery was successfully completed on January 18, 2003.

Since succeeding to the throne, Emperor Akihito has made an effort to bring the imperial family closer to the Japanese people. The Emperor and Empress of Japan have made official visits to eighteen countries, as well as all forty-seven Prefectures of Japan.

On April 10 1959, he married Miss Michiko Shoda (born October 24 1934), the eldest daughter of Mr. Hidesaburo Shoda, the president and later honorary chairman of Nisshin Flour Milling Company. The new Crown Princess was the first commoner to marry into the imperial family. The Emperor and the Empress have three children:

* HIH The Crown Prince Naruhito (b. February 23 1960), * HIH The Prince Akishino (Fumihito, b. November 30 1965, titled Akishino-no-miya) and * Sayako Kuroda, formerly HIH The Princess Sayako (titled Nori-no-miya or Princess Nori, b. April 18 1969).

Akihito is known as an ichthyological researcher, especially studies in the taxonomy of family gobies. He produced articles for publication in Japanese and English scholarly journals such as Gene or Japanese Journal of Ichthyology.

He also wrote some articles about the early period of the Japanese science history in Edo or Meiji Era, which were published in Science and Nature. In 2005 a newly described goby was named Exyrias akihito in his honour.

Despite being strictly constrained by his constitutional position, he also issued several wide-ranging statements of remorse to Asian countries, for their suffering under Japanese occupation, beginning with an expression of remorse to China made in April 1989, three months after the death of his father, Hirohito.

On December 23 2001, during his annual birthday meeting with reporters, the Emperor, in response to a reporter's question about the tensioned relation with Korea, remarked that he felt a kinship with Korean peninsula and went on to explain his feeling as resulting from the classical book Shoku Nihongi that the mother of Emperor Kammu (736–806), was one of 10th descendants of the king of Baekje, Muryeong. The Emperor also noted that Koreans who migrated to Japan in ancient times introduced some aspects of culture and technology to the country, and should not forget the regrettable fact that Japan’s exchanges with Korea have not all been so friendly . These remarks were reported and became headlines in the South Korean Media.

In June 2005, the Emperor visited the U.S. territory of Saipan, the site of one of the most afflicting World War II battles from June 15 to July 9 1944 (Battle of Saipan). Accompanied by Empress Michiko, he offered prayers and flowers at several memorials, honouring not only the Japanese who died, but also American soldiers, Korean laborers, and local islanders. It was the first trip by a Japanese monarch to a World War II battlefield abroad. The Saipan journey was received with high praise by the Japanese people, as were the Emperor's visits to war memorials in Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Okinawa in 1995.

On September 6, 2006, the Emperor celebrated the birth of his first grandson, Prince Hisahito, the third child of the Emperor's younger son. Prince Hisahito is the first male heir born to the Japanese imperial family in 41 years (since his father Prince Akishino) and could avert a possible succession crisis as the Emperor's elder son, the Crown Prince, has only one daughter, Princess Aiko. Under Japan's current male-only succession law, Princess Aiko is not eligible for the throne. The birth of Prince Hisahito could mean that proposed changes to the law to allow Aiko to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne will not go through after being temporarily shelved following the announcement of Princess Kiko's third pregnancy in February 2006.

* List of Japanese Emperors * List of longest reigning current monarchs * Imperial Household of Japan * Imperial Household Agency

* The Japanese Imperial Household Agency Homepage, press conferences, extensive biography, official duties and public activities.

Akihito