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Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - TOKYO — Japan’s parliament on Friday enacted a historic revision to the 19th century Imperial House Law relaxing succession rules but insisted only paternal-lineage men can become emperor, sparking fear that it could doom the already shrinking imperial family.
The bill, passed by the upper house, allows the imperial family to adopt distant male relatives over the age of 15 and lets women keep their royal status after marrying commoners. The legislation, however, keeps the ban on female emperors despite opinion polls showing broad public support for allowing women to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne.
The bill cleared the lower house last week, and will move through the final legal procedures before the changes take effect.
Royal watchers and experts fear the new legislation could doom the 1,500-year-old hereditary institution as it insisted that only men can become emperor, sparking worry about the shrinking, fast-aging imperial family.
Emperor Naruhito ’s 24-year-old daughter is hugely popular, and many Japanese want her to be his successor, but Princess Aiko is ineligible because she is a woman. Japan’s male-only succession rule means the line must move to 60-year-old Fumihito, the emperor's younger brother, then to his 19-year-old nephew Prince Hisahito. Next in line after him is the emperor's 90-year-old uncle.
In an imperial family that places a premium on male royal babies, Hisahito is the first such boy to be born in four decades. Only five of the 16 adults in the imperial family – there are no children – are men.
While an emperor's mother can be a commoner, as is the case with the current one, only boys born to men with royal blood can be heirs to the throne, according to the Imperial House Law.
Japan has the world's oldest continuous hereditary monarchy, with a lineage that's believed to span more than 2,600 years.
Without any amendments to the law, the line of succession will end if Prince Hisahito does not have a male child.
However, with the new bill, male descendants of 11 former imperial branches could be adopted back into the family. These family branches had been removed following World War Two.
Female members of the imperial family will also be able to retain their royal status if they marry commoners. They were previously made to give up their titles and leave their families — which is what Princess Mako did in 2021 to marry her college sweetheart.
The bill, the first amendment to the main text of the Imperial House Law since 1949, marks the biggest overhaul to Japan's imperial system in decades.
There has long been public concern over the lack of male heirs in the imperial family along with debate over whether women should be allowed to take the throne.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and other conservative political leaders have voiced support for male-only succession rules, arguing its importance to imperial legitimacy.
However, opinion polls show high public support for a female monarch.
In a June survey conducted by newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, involving more than 2,000 participants, over 70% of respondents said they supported having a female emperor.
Another poll, conducted by Kyodo News, found that 83% of respondents were in favor of allowing a woman to take the throne.
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