Parliament approves change, exclusion of women confirmed
The Japanese Parliament has approved the revision of the law on the Imperial House to counteract the progressive reduction of family members, confirming the principle of exclusively male succession, despite a significant public opinion remaining in favor of the admission of women to the Chrysanthemum throne. The amendment – which is considered the first significant intervention on the 1947 legislation – introduces two main innovations: it allows the entry into the imperial family of male descendants in the paternal line coming from 11 former collateral branches, excluded with the post-war reform. Adoptees must be at least 15 years old, single and without children. Although they cannot directly access the throne, their future male descendants will be able to return to the line of succession. Secondly, it guarantees the right for princesses to maintain their imperial rank even in the event of marriage to a common citizen, which until now was an automatic cause of leaving the royal family. The measure, presented by the government as necessary to guarantee dynastic stability in the face of the reduced number of aspirants to the throne, does not, however, touch on the most controversial issue: the exclusion of women from the line of succession. There are currently only three eligible heirs, all male, including Crown Prince Akishino and his son Hisahito. Recent polls indicate that around 70% of Japanese are in favor of a sovereign’s accession to the throne but, according to analysts, conservative and nationalist circles close to the government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi have exerted pressure to keep the age-old tradition intact. In this context, previous governments had repeatedly postponed the measure, deemed too politically and culturally sensitive. The Chrysanthemum Throne is considered the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world: tradition traces its origins back to 660 BC, without interruptions in the dynastic line.
