Hoe does the author compare and contrast Kazu with Japan's emperor in the novel, Tokyo Ueno Station?

Emperor Akihito was the emperor of Japan from 1989 until 2019. Kazu explains that he and Akihito are the same age and that their sons were born on the same day. These details are meant to draw a connection between Kazu and Akihito, though the relationship the author establishes between these two characters is primarily one of contrasts. Akihito is the ruler of Japan, a man of significant wealth and power, whereas Kazu is working class and lives the final years of his life homeless. Kazu's repeated mentions of Akihito (and his father, Emperor Hirohito) imply that the former's low socioeconomic status and life of constant struggle are in large part a consequence of the economic and power structure that the emperor maintains and benefits from. This idea is reinforced at the end of the novel when Kazu and the other homeless residents are forced out of the park during a visit by the imperial family and Kazu, depressed and with nowhere to go, chooses this time to end his own life.