TOKYO—Japan welcomed Emperor Naruhito to the throne Wednesday with dancing and fireworks at midnight—when the new emperor's era, known as Reiwa, began.
The 59-year-old Naruhito formally took his new title at the stroke of midnight, hours after his father, Emperor Akihito, bid farewell to the Japanese people, ending a reign of 30 years.
It was the first abdication by a Japanese emperor in more than 200 years, since the Emperor Kokaku stepped down in 1817.
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