Since a ritual imposes a heavy burden on the emperor, plans of simplification and modification of rituals have been sometimes made and implemented for some purposes; for example, it had been done between 1965 and 1985 to reduce the Emperor Showa's work in consideration of his age, and it was done in 2009 to reduce the present Emperor's work, taking his health condition into consideration.
祭祀を行う天皇の負担が大きいため、昭和40年代から50年代には昭和天皇の高齢化による負担軽減のため、2009年には今上天皇の健康への配慮、負担軽減のため、祭祀の簡略化や調整が計画、実施されている。