Tokyo : A parliamentary panel on the imperial family approved on Wednesday a draft proposal that would help prevent the number of royals from further dwindling. The draft states female members can stay on in the imperial family after marriage, and former male royals of the male line can be reinstated through adoption.
The draft, described as the “consensus of the legislature,” was submitted to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi later in the day.The government will then compile a revised bill that reflects the draft and have it checked by the parliamentary panel before it is submitted to the current parliamentary session, which runs through July 17.
“Although there are various opinions on the topic, we were able to compile the best version,” Lower House Speaker Eisuke Mori said after the panel’s meeting on Wednesday.
The speakers of both houses of parliament along with their deputies will discuss what to do if the government’s revised bill deviates from the panel’s draft, Mori said.
The size of the imperial family has diminished over the years.
There were 21 royals in 1989, when the Showa Era (1926-1989) became the Heisei Era (1989-2019) with the death of Emperor Hirohito, but now the number is down to 16. Of these, only three male members are in the line of succession and five are unmarried women, including Princess Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako.
The adoption plan would allow men who are former members of the imperial family along the male succession line to be reinstated as royals. Though the parliamentary panel’s draft states that the adopted individuals will not become heirs to the throne, it is silent on whether their male offspring could be eligible.
In 1947, after Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II, 51 members of 11 branches of the imperial family lost their royal status. At present, there are about 10 or so men along the male line of those branches who are still unmarried and can be considered as candidates to be reinstated.
The government will decide the details such as the process of the adoption and the minimum age of the adoptee, and which imperial family members can be the adoptive parents.
Mori said Monday that he doesn’t expect Emperor Naruhito and his wife; Crown Prince Akishino and his wife; and Emperor Emeritus Akihito and his wife to become adoptive parents. The revised law is expected to be revisited after 20 to 30 years.
The other proposal is to have female royals remain in the imperial family after they get married, which allows them to carry on with their public duties, such as being patrons of various organizations.
The Imperial House Law stipulates that female imperial family members become commoners once they get married. If all of the existing princesses become commoners upon marriage, the number of royals will drop to 11.
“Given that the current princesses have lived their lives under the current system, certain consideration should be made in the transitional phase, including respecting their wishes on whether they wish to” remain in the imperial family, the panel said in a statement released Monday.
But the plan omitted a controversial clause on whether the spouse and any offspring of the princess would be granted royal status. Many parties agree that the spouse and any of their children should not become royals, but others worry it would create an awkward circumstance in the family — a royal and commoners being in the same household.
The draft also said that the succession line through the next generation should remain unchanged. At present, Crown Prince Akishino is next in line to the chrysanthemum throne, followed by his 19-year-old son, Prince Hisahito. Prince Hitachi, the 90-year-old younger brother of Emperor Emeritus Akihito, is next in line after Prince Hisahito.
The veiled wording of the draft prevents any revisions that would allow a reigning empress — something that conservatives have been staunchly opposed to, citing tradition.
Liberal parties, including the Japanese Communist Party, have pushed for a revision that would allow a reigning empress. An Asahi Shimbun survey conducted in May showed that 72% of the respondents were supportive of a female royal becoming reigning empress, and magazines and tabloids have run stories about the rising expectation for Princess Aiko to fulfill such a role.
Article 1 of the 1947 Imperial House Law states a male offspring along the male line belonging to the imperial lineage shall accede to the imperial throne.
The draft proposal is in line with a report compiled by a government expert panel on the imperial family in 2021.
But expert panel reports on the topic have swayed over the years.
A report compiled by a separate government expert panel in 2005 stated that the adoption plan is “difficult to introduce” in terms of gaining public support, consistency with past history and tradition, as well as its efficacy since it depends on the will of the adoptees. The report, released when there were only female imperial family members in the next generation, instead recommended allowing reigning empresses.
Prince Hisahito was born the following year, which changed the entire narrative of the discussions.
