Japan Parties OK Diet’s Consensus Proposal on Imperial Family

Tokyo, June 10 (Jiji Press)–Japanese political parties on Wednesday approved a proposal on measures to secure a sufficient number of Imperial Family members as the consensus of the country’s legislative branch. The proposal, drawn up by the leaders and vice leaders of both chambers of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, on the basis of the two measures in a 2021 report by a government panel of experts, was adopted at the Diet leaders’ meeting with political parties and parliamentary groups held at the official residence of the speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower Diet chamber. The Diet leaders handed the consensus proposal to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi later in the day. Takaichi said that the government will advance efforts so that “a draft outline of a bill can be presented promptly.” The government plans to draw up a bill to revise the Imperial House Law based on the proposal and submit it to the Diet as early as this month after explaining the legislation to the parties. The government aims to get the bill enacted during the current Diet session ending July 17. Lower House Speaker Eisuke Mori told the prime minister that he hopes to “have the amendment enacted this Diet session.” The consensus proposal stresses that the principle of Imperial succession from Emperor Naruhito to Crown Prince Akishino and then to his son, Prince Hisahito, “should be firmly maintained.” One of the two proposed measures would enable female members of the Imperial Family to retain their Imperial status after marriage. It does not specify whether their spouses and children would be given the status. “It has been clarified that this would be discussed by the legislature in the future if necessary,” Mori told a press conference, noting that he has called on parties to continue discussions on efforts for stable Imperial succession. The other measure would allow the adoption of male members in the paternal line of former Imperial Family branches back into the family. The proposal by the Diet leaders calls for a system to be designed to accept male members in the paternal line of the 11 branches that left the Imperial Family in October 1947. Adoptees would not have the right of succession to the Imperial throne. The government should carefully design the system, including regarding the age of adoptees, the scope of possible adoptive parents and the specific procedures for adoption, the consensus proposal says. It also calls for periodic reviews on the adoption plan. “(The next review) is expected to be in 20 or 30 years, considering the age at which (possible adoptees’) children to be born in the future will be able to express their own wills,” Lower House Vice Speaker Keiichi Ishii told a press conference. A draft of the Diet leaders’ proposal on measures to secure a sufficient number of Imperial Family members was presented to political parties and parliamentary groups Monday. It was broadly backed by seven parties, including the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and opposed by some opposition parties. In Wednesday’s meeting, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition force in the House of Councillors, the upper Diet chamber, voiced support for the plan on female Imperial Family members but did not mention the adoption plan. The party’s representative at the meeting, Hiroyuki Nagahama, former vice president of the Upper House, expressed a cautious stance on the adoption option in talks with reporters. Political parties have discussed on ways to secure a sufficient number of Imperial Family members based on the government panel’s ideas, while putting aside the issue of how to ensure stable Imperial succession. The legislature’s consensus proposal calls for a supplementary Diet resolution seeking continued discussions on measures for stable Imperial succession. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]