Doctors: Akihito’s Polup Likely Non-Cancerous

Emperor Akihito was reported in good spirits Tuesday after an operation to remove a polyp from his large intestine, and his doctor said the polyp appeared non-cancerous. Further tests will take about a week, Dr. Tetsuichiro Muto of Tokyo University said.

Akihito, 61, is the son of the late Emperor Hirohito. Hirohito, known posthumously in Japan as Emperor Showa, died in 1989 of intestinal cancer at the age of 87.