A government panel of knowledgeable persons discussing Imperial abdication has wrapped up its hearings with experts on constitutional issues and the Imperial system, who gave diverse views on the matter from various perspectives — including the very role of emperors under the postwar Constitution and whether an emperor should be allowed to abdicate and how — questions that had rarely been publicly debated until Emperor Akihito, in a televised video message in August, expressed his wish to retire.

Despite the diverse opinions shared with the panel, the Abe administration is believed to have a scenario already in place: The panel will present a proposal to the government next spring based on which the administration will get a special law applicable solely to the current Emperor — instead of an amendment to the Imperial House Law, which sets the Imperial succession rules and does not provide for an emperor stepping down — enacted during the regular Diet session next year, with the abdication of the Emperor in 2018 in mind. The government reportedly wants to avoid amending the Imperial House Law given Emperor Akihito's advanced age, since revising the law could open up all sorts of difficult issues, including the future of the Imperial family without changing the current rules that limit the succession to males and paternal lineage — a question that conservatives apparently wish to be left untouched.

The public, however, appears to favor institutionalizing Imperial abdication. Media opinion polls since Emperor Akihito's message have shown an overwhelming majority of respondents expressing support for allowing him to abdicate. In a recent Kyodo News survey, 70 percent of the pollees said that all subsequent emperors should be allowed to abdicate, compared with 26 percent who replied that the rule should be changed solely for Emperor Akihito. Among the experts who spoke at the government panel, only five of the nine who either supported or condoned an Imperial abdication endorsed the idea of a special law for the current Emperor alone.