Japan’s Parliament voted to enshrine male-only succession for the imperial throne, part of a monarchy that traces its origins back roughly 1,500 years. This decision was made by revising an Imperial House Law dating back to the 1800s, despite warnings from experts that limiting succession to men in the paternal line will hasten the decline of Japan’s shrinking and aging imperial family.
Background
The new rules allow distant male relatives to be adopted into the imperial family to father future successors. However, strict rules remain in place limiting the throne to men with royal blood. The changes also allow princesses to retain their royal status after marrying commoners.
Many Japanese had been calling for Princess Aiko, Emperor Naruhito’s 24-year-old daughter, to be allowed to succeed him — now an impossibility. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and other conservatives say the male bloodline is the source of the emperor’s authority and legitimacy.
Reactions
Chizuko Ueno, a prominent feminist and sociologist, suggested it was ironic that Japan’s first female prime minister was the one to ensure male-only succession. Ueno said the new rules ‘treat male royals as stallions and put female royals under pressure as ‘childbearing machines’ to produce male offspring.’ Japan has had eight empresses descended from the male line in its centuries-long history as a hereditary monarchy.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
