empress regnant. The seven female monarchs who reigned before Go-Sakuramachi were Suiko, Kōgyoku (Saimei), Jitō, Genmei, Genshō, Kōken (Shōtoku), and Meishō. She reigned from 15 September 1762 to 9 January 1771 and died on 24 December 1813. |- | Kōkaku | 1780 | 1817 | 1840 | Ninkō | Prior to the start of the third millennium the last emperor to become a jōkō was Kōkaku in 1817. He later created an incident called the "Songo incident" (the "respectful title incident"). The jōkō disputed with the Tokugawa Shogunate about his intention to give a title of Abdicated Emperor (Daijō-tennō) to his father, who was Imperial Prince Sukehito. He died on 11 December 1840. |- | Akihito | 1989 | 2019 | Living | Naruhito | The special law authorizing the abdication of Emperor Akihito on 30 April 2019 provides that the title of Jōkō will be revived for him. As there was no official English translation of the title of Jōkō previously, the Imperial Household Agency decided to define it as "Emperor Emeritus". |} Abdication during the Empire of Japan Emperor Kōmei and the Shōgun Commodore Matthew C. Perry and his squadron of what the Japanese dubbed "the Black Ships", sailed into the harbor at Edo (now known as Tokyo) in July 1853. Perry sought to open Japan to trade, and warned the Japanese of military consequences if they did not agree. During the crisis brought on by Perry's arrival, the Tokugawa shogunate took, for the first time in at least 250 years, the highly unusual step of consulting with the Imperial Court, and Emperor Kōmei's officials advised that they felt the Americans should be allowed to trade and asked that they be informed in advance of any steps to be taken upon Perry's return. Feeling at a disadvantage against Western powers, the Japanese government allowed trade and submitted to the "Unequal Treaties", giving up tariff authority and the right to try foreigners in its own courts. The shogunate's willingness to consult with the Imperial Court was short-lived: in 1858, word of a treaty arrived with a letter stating that due to shortness of time, it had not been possible to consult. Emperor Kōmei was so incensed that he threatened to abdicate—though even this action would have required the consent of the shōgun. Meiji constitution on abdication Emperor Meiji wished to allow a clause codifying the right to abdicate and