Japan hit by succession crisis as advisory panel rules out allowing women to take the throne

Japan has ruled out allowing women to ascend to the throne, amid a looming succession crisis in the country’s shrinking imperial family.  

A government advisory panel, made up of 21 members from various fields, is attempting to find a solution, and will not even consider allowing imperial princess to reign, The Times reported, citing Japanese media. 

There is public support for allowing princesses to ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne, but such a move is strongly opposed by Japan’s ruling conservative nationalists. 

The Japanese imperial family is considered to be the world’s oldest monarchy, with an unbroken line of male succession that can be traced back two millennia.

Mythology, recognised by the Imperial House, has the legendary Emperor Jimmu, said to be a descendant of a sun goddess and a storm god, as the first of 126 Japanese emperors leading up to the current Emperor Naruhito.

But the future of the imperial line is in peril because of strict rules which state only male heirs are eligible to sit upon the throne.

There is a shortage of male heirs among the Imperial Household, which has shrunk to just 18 members, three of whom are eligible heirs.

The decrease is primarily due to a rule that strips imperial princesses of their titles if they choose to marry commoners.

The option to consider whether a woman could ascend to the throne was mooted three years ago following the decision to allow the historic abdication of then Emperor Akihito, 87.

In order to secure opposition party support for the move, the government promised to examine possible reforms to imperial succession.   

However, the process has been delayed, with formal discussions only launching in April this year.

Traditionalists in government argue there is still time to find an alternative solution as Naruhito, 61, is healthy and the family has male heirs in his brother, Crown Prince Akishino, 55, and his 14-year-old nephew Prince Hisahito. 

The only other eligible heir is Prince Hitachi – the emperor’s ailing 85-year-old uncle. 

Opinion polls suggest the vast majority of the Japanese public supports women being eligible to reign.

A number of politicians, including more liberal members of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s Liberal Democratic Party are also supportive. 

‘Within the ruling party, there is a longing for [Princess Aiko] to ascend the throne,’ The Japan Times quoted a senior government official as saying this month. 

But current Imperial Household Law, established in 1947, states that only a male descendant of a male emperor can succeed to the throne.   

Japan has had eight female monarchs between the sixth and 18th centuries, however none came through a female line of descent. 

Naruhito and his wife, Empress Masako, 57, have a daughter, named Princess Aiko, who was born in 2001. 

Hisahito is the son of Naruhito’s younger brother Crown Prince Akishino, 55, and his wife Princess Akishino, 54.

One option for reform would be allowing women to keep their imperial status after marrying, regardless of their husbands’ status, so that any future sons could join the line of succession. 

This is opposed by traditionalists who argue that legitimate succession can only pass through the male line.

Another possibility to be raised by the panel relates to former aristocratic families, whose imperial status was abolished during the U.S. Occupation of Japan following the empire’s defeat in the Second World War.

The proposal suggests that scions of these families could be adopted into the emperor’s family.

Yet another option, which also concerns these formerly imperial families, would see an effective restoration of the aristocracy with the male members being reinstated.   

Traditionalists worry that any reform to the rules of succession threatens the legitimacy, and therefore the stability, of the Imperial Household.

Reformists, on the other hand, argue that the Imperial House must adapt to survive.

March and April survey conducted by Kyodo News showed 87 per cent of respondents backed a reigning empress, while 80 per cent were in favour of a female-line emperor. 

Taro Kano, a cabinet member tipped as a potential future prime minister, has voiced support for the move to allow princesses to ascend the throne.

‘I think it is possible that imperial princesses, including Princess Aiko, could be accepted as the next monarch,’ he said.

‘There is only one next-generation heir to the throne [at the moment]. We need to consider what to do when there are no longer any male heirs left.’