In Japan, what is the difference between a "retired emperor" and a "cloistered emperor"?

Question:

I'm currently making a story where a fictional empire (in another world) where the land is in the middle of a civil war because of the feud between the retired emperor and the cloistered emperor for the line of succession. in my second version, it's an argument between the current emperor and the cloistered emperor.

but i really need to know the difference of a retired emperor to a cloistered one. like which one still has or more power compared to the other.

Answer:

Maybe, you are talking about retired emperor 上皇 and cloistered emperor 法皇.

It depends on each ear. The role emperor has change over time in Japan.

As another says, emperor does not retire until his death in current Japan.

On the other hand, emperor did not rule Japan for long medieval period like 1200-1868. Samurai had power at that time. So it's not realistic to talk about emperors' power struggle during that time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloistered_…