section_path: Current monarchies/East and Southeast Asian constitutional monarchies
section_name: East and Southeast Asian constitutional monarchies
paragraph_text: East and Southeast Asian constitutional monarchies
  
  The Kingdom of Bhutan, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Kingdom of Thailand, and Japan are constitutional monarchies where the monarch has a limited or merely ceremonial role. Bhutan made the change in 2008. Cambodia had its own monarchy after independence from the French colonial empire, but it was deposed after the Khmer Rouge came into power. The monarchy was subsequently restored in the peace agreement of 1993. Thailand transitioned into a constitutional monarchy over the course of the 20th century. Japan has had a monarchy, an emperor, according to legend, since Emperor Jimmu (reigned 660–585 BCE), making it the world's oldest existing monarchy. After their defeat in the Second World War, Japan was forced into limiting the power of the Emperor, giving almost all of it to the National Diet.