Japan Govt Submits Bill to Revise Imperial House Law

Tokyo, June 30 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government on Tuesday adopted a bill to revise the Imperial House Law to secure an adequate number of Imperial Family members and submitted it to the House of Representatives. It would be the first substantial revision of the Imperial House Law, which was established in 1947. The government aims to enact the bill during the ongoing Diet session, currently scheduled to end on July 17. The bill, approved at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon, includes plans to allow the Imperial Family to adopt male, paternal-line descendants of former Imperial Family branches and to allow female members of the Imperial Family to maintain their status after marriage. It also includes a provision that the sons of Imperial Family adoptees will be eligible to succeed to the throne. However, some opposition parties are fiercely criticizing the provision regarding the Imperial succession eligibility of adoptees’ sons, claiming that this issue was not discussed by a government panel of experts or in ruling-opposition talks that reached a consensus earlier this month. The current situation appears to have deviated from the calm environment that the government and the ruling bloc expected for discussions on stable Imperial succession. The Imperial House Law currently has five chapters and 37 articles. The bill would revise Article 9, which prohibits adoptions by the Imperial Family, and add a sixth chapter on male adopted Imperial Family members. The new chapter would stipulate that male, paternal-line descendants aged 15 or older of the 11 former Imperial Family branches that left the Imperial Family in October 1947 are eligible to be adopted. It would limit adoptive parents to princes and princesses, except the Crown Prince and Crown Princess. Adoptions would be reviewed by the Imperial House Council, which consists of Imperial Family members and representatives from the government, legislature and judiciary. Adoptees would become Imperial Family members upon adoption. Article 1 of the current law limits Imperial succession to male, paternal-line members of the Imperial Family, and Article 2 stipulates the order of succession to the Imperial throne. The bill calls for not applying Article 2 to adoptees to clarify that they do not have the right of succession but applying it to their children to confirm that they have the right. Meanwhile, the bill would delete Article 12, which stipulates that female Imperial Family members must leave the institution upon marriage. The government also plans to revise the basic resident register law to apply it on female Imperial Family members. As a transitional measure, a supplementary provision would allow women who are Imperial Family members when the revised Imperial House Law takes effect to relinquish their status at their own discretion. Another supplementary provision calls for reviewing the law every 30 years, if necessary in light of the number of Imperial Family members. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]