83-year-old Emperor of Japan Akihito will abdicate on March 31, 2019, the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun said today, quoting government sources.

This will be the first abdication of a Japanese monarch for more than 200 years, the France press reported. According to the newspaper, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is likely to talk in November with officials and members of the Imperial Family before announcing the date officially.

Asked today by AFP, a spokesman for the imperial palace, said "nothing has been decided yet" in connection with the abdication date of the monarch.

Akihito shocked the country last year when he expressed a desire to retire after almost three decades on the throne, pointing his age and health problems as reason.

The surprising statement has created a number of difficulties, since there is no legal text in Japan to allow the emperor to descend from the throne - he is supposed to remain Emperor until his death.

The discussion of the principle that only a man can succeed the Japanese throne was renewed.