Japan’s government led by arch-conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi – the country’s first female prime minister – wants to secure the future of the monarchy through adoptions, but women remain barred from the throne.
Parliament has passed a revision of the Imperial Household Law, which has been in force since 1947. It allows male members of former collateral branches of the imperial family to be readmitted. Those branches lost their royal status after World War II and members have since been private citizens.
The move comes as the world’s oldest hereditary monarchy is gradually running out of heirs.
Currently, only three candidates are theoretically available as successors to Emperor Naruhito, 66: the Emperor’s brother, Crown Prince Akishino, 60; Akishino’s 19-year-old son Prince Hisahito; and Naruhito’s uncle Prince Hitachi – who is already 90.
Should Hisahito, the only remaining prince in the youngest generation of the imperial family, fail to produce a male child, a male descendant of an adopted family member could – under the terms of the legal amendment – ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne. Only male descendants of the male family line of the emperor will continue to be eligible for the throne.
Princess Aiko barred from throne
The first significant revision of the Imperial Household Law since 1947 shows “that gender equality is not among the priorities,” Sven Saaler of Sophia University in Tokyo said. “A woman on the imperial throne has been pushed even further into the distance by the legal amendment,” he told dpa.
Many people in Japan would like to see Princess Aiko, 24 – the emperor’s only child with his wife Masako – become empress.