Jun 19 (Japan Times) - A petition drive by a small Kyoto-based political group requesting that Emperor Akihito move to Kyoto upon his abdication had drawn over 10,000 signatures as of Friday.
The campaign by Kyoto Party comes just a few days after Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa said the city would push the government to conduct an objective study on issues related to the relocation proposal for at least some Imperial family members by listening to the advice of a wide variety of experts.
The group hopes to convince the government that Japan's former capital, where emperors reigned for nearly 1,000 years, should be discussed as a possible choice for Emperor Akihito after he retires next year, and said that, if he had the same idea, the people of Kyoto would welcome him.
Since 2013, officials from the city and representatives from Kyoto's business, academic, and cultural communities have been discussing a proposal to make Kyoto, along with Tokyo, Japan's twin cultural capitals. This would entail having at least some of the Imperial family move to Kyoto along with the Cultural Affairs Agency, which is scheduled to be transferred there by 2019, at the earliest.
It was unclear how the Emperor himself viewed a potential move to Kyoto or what role he would play in any decision to relocate.
