Japan’s Revised Imperial House Law Likely to Take Effect in Oct.

Tokyo, July 21 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government said on Tuesday that it will soon promulgate the revised Imperial House Law, which the country’s parliament approved on Friday. The decision by the cabinet means that the revised law will likely take effect in October, as it calls for the date of enforcement to be three months after its promulgation in principle. The revised law is designed to tackle the dwindling size of the Imperial Family, allowing male, paternal-line descendants of the 11 former Imperial Family branches to be adopted into the Imperial Family and female Imperial Family members to remain within the family after marriage. The law preserves the principle that the Imperial throne be succeeded by male descendants of the male line. While the adoptee himself will not hold the right of succession, his male descendants would be eligible to succeed to the throne. The law also stipulates that the husband and children of a female Imperial Family member do not have Imperial status. The law has a supplementary provision calling for a review of the legislation every 30 years. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]