EMPEROR OF JAPAN.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 28 December 1926, Page 5

EMPEROR OF JAPAN.

* HIS DEATH ANNOUNCED. THE NEW RULER. BY CaBLK—PRESS ASSOCIATION —COPYRIGHT • TOKIO, Dec. 24. It is officially announced that the Emperor is dead and that Prince Hirohito, whose age is 27, has succeeded his father, Yoshiliito, as Emperor, in order to observe the law which provides that the throne cannot be vacant. The ceremony of the transfer of the three sacred treasures of which _ the Emperor is cu.stodian occurred automatically, immediately after the physicians’ final pronouncement, first to the Regent, the Empress and family, who were gathered at the Palace and thereafter to the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal and the Privy Councillors and Ministers of State, whose presence at the ceremony of transfer of the treasures is necessitated by Imperial law. The fatal termination of the illness had been so long anticipated that minor details had been prearranged for the removal of the body along three miles of winding shore road through a .succession of fishing villages to the station at Idzushi, whence it was entrained for the journey of 38 miles to Tokio station, fronting the Imperial Palace grounds. Within a reasonable time the new Emperor may command the attendance of the Imperial Councillors and Governmental dignitaries and officials, probably at the Imperial Palace, where, with all ancient ceremony, the Emperor and Empress will ascend the ancestral throne, and his Majesty will announce that be will strive to glorify the virtues and follow the example of his illustrious ancestors. After that the Prime Minister will .pledge the loyalty of bis subjects to Emperor Hirohito and the Empire. MESSAGES OF SYMPATHY. LONDON, Dec. 25.. King George sent a message to Tokio conveying sympathy with the Japanese Royal Family, and commanded Court mourning to be worn for three weeks. Prince Chichibu, who is on the high seas, was informed of the news by wireless. AUCKLAND, Dec. 27. A message to be conveyed to the Japanese Government has been sent by the Governor-General, Sir Charles Fergusson, expressing the sympathy of the people of New Zealand with the Japanese, nation in the death of their Emperor. NEW EMPEROR'S STATE ENTRY. FUNERA L ARRANGEMENTS. Received 10.15 a.m. to-day. TOKIO, Dec. 27. The young Emperor Hirosito, with his Empress, Nagaho, made a State entry into the capital this afternoon, receiving every mark of deep sympathy and homage from the masses along the route. The funeral train, carrying the Dowager Empress and the remains of the late Emperor, reached the city after dark. The Emperor and Empress and all officialdom met the train, which proceeded to a special station built within the grounds surrounding the great Meiji shrine, The body was thence removed to the old Imperial Palace. The funeral is to be held in the middle of February, the interment taking place at Osaka, near Tokio. The Diet passed a vote of condolence and voted 2£ million yen to cover the expenses of the funeral. The vote also includes the expenses of the coronation of the new Emperor, which ceremony has been fixed for January, 1928.