<p class="title rtejustify">Japan's 84-year-old Emperor Akihito cancelled his official duties on Monday after being taken ill as a result of insufficient blood flow to his brain, the country's top government spokesman said.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Akihito shocked the country in 2016 when he signalled his desire to step down after nearly three decades in the job, citing his age and health problems.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Early on Monday, the emperor "had a sudden feeling of sickness and heavy sweating" and Empress Michiko "immediately brought in the palace doctor," Yoshihide Suga told reporters.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">The doctor diagnosed the emperor with "symptoms of vertigo and nausea due to cerebral anemia, which require a complete rest and follow-up checks", said Suga, the chief cabinet secretary, speaking at a regular press conference.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Cerebral anemia is a condition resulting from insufficient blood flow to the brain.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Akihito had been due to meet with Princess Ayako, a daughter of one of his cousins, to hear about her engagement, a spokesman for the Imperial Household Agency told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"We don't have further details" about the emperor's health condition, he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">The emperor also postponed his planned meeting with the Qatari ambassador who is scheduled to leave Japan soon, local media reported.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">It was not clear when Akihito would resume his public duties. He will be the first emperor to retire -- on April 30, 2019 -- in more than two centuries in the world's oldest imperial family.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Akihito's eldest son, 58-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito, is set to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne a day later.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">The status of the emperor is sensitive in Japan -- a legacy of the massive Pacific war waged in the name of Akihito's father Hirohito, who died in 1989. Akihito has keenly embraced the more modern role as a symbol of the state which was imposed on the royal family after World War II ended.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Previous emperors including Hirohito had been treated as semi-divine.</p>
<p class="title rtejustify">Japan's 84-year-old Emperor Akihito cancelled his official duties on Monday after being taken ill as a result of insufficient blood flow to his brain, the country's top government spokesman said.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Akihito shocked the country in 2016 when he signalled his desire to step down after nearly three decades in the job, citing his age and health problems.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Early on Monday, the emperor "had a sudden feeling of sickness and heavy sweating" and Empress Michiko "immediately brought in the palace doctor," Yoshihide Suga told reporters.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">The doctor diagnosed the emperor with "symptoms of vertigo and nausea due to cerebral anemia, which require a complete rest and follow-up checks", said Suga, the chief cabinet secretary, speaking at a regular press conference.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Cerebral anemia is a condition resulting from insufficient blood flow to the brain.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Akihito had been due to meet with Princess Ayako, a daughter of one of his cousins, to hear about her engagement, a spokesman for the Imperial Household Agency told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"We don't have further details" about the emperor's health condition, he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">The emperor also postponed his planned meeting with the Qatari ambassador who is scheduled to leave Japan soon, local media reported.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">It was not clear when Akihito would resume his public duties. He will be the first emperor to retire -- on April 30, 2019 -- in more than two centuries in the world's oldest imperial family.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Akihito's eldest son, 58-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito, is set to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne a day later.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">The status of the emperor is sensitive in Japan -- a legacy of the massive Pacific war waged in the name of Akihito's father Hirohito, who died in 1989. Akihito has keenly embraced the more modern role as a symbol of the state which was imposed on the royal family after World War II ended.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Previous emperors including Hirohito had been treated as semi-divine.</p>