About 100 Japanese citizens are planning to sue the government for using taxpayer money to finance celebrations associated with the emperor's change in what they see as a violation of the constitutional rule of separation of religion and state.
They, including members of Buddhist and Christian organizations, plan to file a lawsuit in early December. If that happens, this will be the first complaint before the courts.
The move comes months before a ceremony due to be held in late April 2019. Akihitu will leave the throne and his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will succeed him in early May.
However, complaints of the same kind were raised when Akihito left in January 1989 his father Hirohito, who died at the time.
All legal proceedings have been rejected so far, but an appeals court has pointed to the possibility of doubts about the constitutionality of what the state is paying for some purely religious ceremonies.
"There were 1,700 suspects and received relative support from the public," said Koichi Shin, one of the initiators of the new attempt.
When Naruhito inherits the throne on 1 May 2019, the government plans to organize two more ceremonies in October and November, which the complainants regard as "religious ceremonies."
