PM Takaichi Realizes Imperial House Law Change by Force of Numbers

Tokyo, July 18 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration has realized a revision of the Imperial House Law by force of numbers, making major progress in talks that had been left hanging in the air since the 2000s. On Friday, the Diet, the country’s parliament, enacted the bill aimed at securing a sufficient number of Imperial Family members. Under the revised law, female members of the Imperial Family will be able to remain within the institution after marriage and some Imperial Family members will be able to adopt male, paternal-line descendants of the 11 former Imperial Family branches. During intensive deliberations at the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, held after the bill’s enactment, Takaichi said, “We’ll work on gaining people’s understanding.” Many, however, question whether the government will be able to get the public’s nod for the adoptee plan. The common male ancestor of members of the former 11 Imperial Family branches and the current Emperor goes back about 600 years to the Muromachi period. In addition, members of the former Imperial Family branches have lived as ordinary citizens since the branches were removed from the family in 1947. While the Cabinet Legislation Bureau said that the adoptions stipulated in the revision do not violate Article 14 of the Constitution, which prohibits discrimination based on family origin, not many people are convinced. In a 2005 report, a panel of experts under the administration of then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said that it would be almost impossible to adopt a plan to restore the Imperial Family status for former branches due to the difficulty of obtaining public support. Twenty-one years later, Renho, a lawmaker of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, at Friday’s intensive deliberations said, “How was this obstacle cleared?” Article 1 of the Imperial House Law stipulates that the Imperial throne be succeeded to by male descendants of the male line. The 2005 report concluded that changing the rule to allow female and maternal-line Emperors would be essential to secure an adequate number of Imperial Family members and maintain the Imperial succession. This prompted the government into action to revise the law. The efforts, however, were halted following the birth of Prince Hisahito, the only son of Crown Prince Akishino, in 2006. The now 19-year-old prince is second in line to the throne, after his father, who is the younger brother of Emperor Naruhito. The long-stalled debate began to move when a supplementary resolution was adopted during the 2017 enactment of a special measures law on the abdication of then Emperor Akihito, currently the Emperor Emeritus, who is the father to the current Emperor and the Crown Prince. The resolution called for discussions on measures to secure stable Imperial succession and the proposed establishment of Imperial Family branches headed by female members. In 2021, the government shelved discussions on the Imperial succession. A report by a panel of experts was submitted to the Diet, calling for the establishment of systems that would enable female Imperial Family members to remain in the institution after marriage and male, paternal-line descendants of former Imperial Family branches to be adopted into the family. In response, the ruling and opposition camps in 2024 started discussions focusing on measures to secure an adequate number of Imperial Family members. The talks hit a snag, however, due to a rift between parties backing the adoptee plan, including the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and those supporting the idea of allowing female Imperial Family members to retain their status after marriage. The situation drastically changed following the election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, in February this year. Takaichi’s LDP secured over two-thirds of the seats, gaining power to override Upper House decisions on bills. Following the election, about 80 pct of those occupying the Lower House seats were in favor of the adoptee plan, while the number of those approving the idea of allowing female members to retain their status after marriage declined drastically. The LDP’s Eisuke Mori, a close aide to the party’s Vice President Taro Aso, who had led the talks on Imperial Family issues, was picked as the Lower House speaker. This helped boost the momentum of Imperial Family discussions. The ruling-opposition talks resumed in April. Of the 11 plenary sessions between the ruling and opposition sides held in total, five took place in or after April. In June, the Lower House speaker and Upper House president worked out “a consensus of the legislature” to sum up the ruling-opposition discussions. The government then drew up a bill to revise the Imperial House Law. Takaichi said that the bill was “based on the consensus,” but it went into details on the Imperial succession, not included in the consensus. The bill said that male children born to the adoptees would be eligible to succeed to the throne and that husbands and children of female Imperial Family members would not be part of the institution. Parties supporting the female member status plan blasted the bill, saying it was “a stab in the back.” They felt that the bill was designed to close the path to female and maternal-line Emperors. Despite the uproar, only six hours were given in total to the question and answer meetings on the bill at committees of the two chambers. At a press conference Friday, CDP leader Shunichi Mizuoka said that the government and ruling parties had “switched the focus of the argument.” Both chambers adopted a supplementary resolution that the country will continue to consider measures to secure stable Imperial succession. Although the Centrist Reform Alliance and the CDP in the opposition camp hope to seek further discussions, an LDP member who had been a cabinet member declared that there will be no revision to the Imperial House Law “over the next 30 years.” It is unclear whether the revised law will be effective in securing enough Imperial Family members. The family has five unmarried female members–Princess Aiko, 24, who is the only child of the current Emperor, Princess Kako, 31, who is a daughter of the Crown Prince, 44-year-old Princess Akiko of Mikasa, her 42-year-old sister Princess Yoko and 40-year-old Princess Tsuguko of Takamado. As a transitional measure, the revised law will allow the five to choose not to remain in the Imperial Family after marriage. Of the former 11 Imperial Family branches, the Higashikuni, Kaya, Takeda and Kuni families are believed to have unmarried male members in the paternal line. The government has not confirmed whether they are interested in being adopted into the Imperial Family. A cousin of the Emperor Emeritus, Asahiro Kuni left the Imperial Family when he was 3. The adoptee plan “seems unrealistic,” he said. “I wonder if it can gain the people’s understanding.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]