AKIPRESS.COM - Japanese Emperor Akihito has used a rare video address to the public to say he is worried that it might become difficult for him to carry out his duties fully due to his age, ABC reports.

The 82-year-old Emperor also said there were limits to reducing the emperor's duties as the "symbol of the state", the status accorded to the monarch under Japan's post-war constitution.

Public broadcaster NHK reported last month that Akihito, who has had heart surgery and been treated for prostate cancer, wanted to step down in a few years — a move that would be unprecedented in modern Japan.

Once considered divine, the emperor is defined in the constitution as a symbol of the state and the unity of the people, and has no political power.

Emperor Akihito stopped short of saying outright that he wanted to abdicate, which could be interpreted as interfering in politics.

"When I consider that my fitness level is gradually declining, I am worried that it may become difficult for me to carry out my duties as the symbol of the state with my whole being, as I have done until now," he said.