For a Stable Imperial Succession
The Well-Being of Dedicated Members of the Imperial Family Matters More Than Maintaining Male-Line Succession at All Costs

The revision of the Imperial Household Law is currently being debated in the Japanese Diet. The debate focuses on two issues: allowing female members of the Imperial Family to retain their status as members of the Imperial Family after marriage, and restoring male-line descendants of former Imperial branches (the former collateral branches of the Imperial Family, known as the former Miyake) to Imperial status by having them adopted by current members of the Imperial Family, thereby granting their male-line descendants eligibility for imperial succession.

The discussion on revising the Imperial Household Law originally began as a bipartisan effort to explore measures to prevent the further decline in the number of Imperial Family members. However, the government’s proposal explicitly states that the descendants of adopted male-line members of the former Imperial branches would be granted eligibility for imperial succession. It is therefore difficult to see this as anything other than an attempt to preserve the principle that only male-line males may inherit the Imperial throne.

Nonsense to refer to 2,000 year tradition

Allowing female members of the Imperial Family to retain their status after marriage is, in itself, acceptable. However, the conservative argument that the Imperial throne must continue to be inherited exclusively by male-line males because this represents a 2,000-year tradition of the Imperial Family and Japan itself is, in my view, entirely unacceptable. The fact that this idea has suddenly emerged in the concrete form of a proposed revision to the Imperial Household Law is both astonishing and deeply troubling.

Criticism has emerged from various quarters, including the media, and opinion polls consistently show strong opposition to the proposal to bring in male descendants of former Imperial branches through adoption. However, these expressions of public concern appear far too weak to change the position of the ruling parties, particularly the Liberal Democratic Party, which together with its coalition partners holds a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives.

The most important point is that the postwar Constitution was a revolutionary constitution that transformed Japan from a system of sovereignty vested in the Emperor to one based on popular sovereignty. The Emperor, who had previously been the sovereign authority of the state, became a “symbol” of the state and of the unity of the people, existing only on the basis of the will of the people. At that point, the “tradition” had already been broken. All subsequent arrangements concerning the Imperial system must therefore be lawful under the new Constitution. The preferential treatment of males in succession itself shall not be considered permissible under the current Constitution.

Article 2 of the Meiji Constitution stated: "The Imperial Throne shall be succeeded to by male descendants of the Imperial Line according to the provisions of the Imperial House Law." Under the postwar Constitution, this was changed to: "The Imperial Throne shall be dynastic and succeeded to in accordance with the Imperial House Law enacted by the Diet." To interpret this merely as transferring the issue of "male descendants of the Imperial Line" to the Imperial House Law is, in my view, fundamentally mistaken. The rules of succession had to be established in accordance with the new Constitution, and the relevant provisions of the new Imperial House Law were, from the moment of their enactment, clearly in conflict with Articles 14 and 24 of the Constitution. They can be regarded as provisions that promoted discrimination against women and imposed, in effect, a constitutional violation by placing pressure on women of the Imperial Family to bear male heirs.

Compared with this issue, although it may seem relatively minor, this also demonstrates how far the arguments of conservatives have departed from what can genuinely be called "tradition." It is proposed that adopted members should come from the eleven former Imperial branches that lost their Imperial status after the war. However, there is no historical precedent for a person’s descendants ? rather than the individual himself ? returning to Imperial status after eighty years of having been commoners. Furthermore, these branches separated from the main Imperial line approximately 600 years ago, during the Muromachi period, and are said to be related to the present Imperial Family by some 36 to 38 degrees of male-line descent. This is utterly incomparable to the case of Emperor Keitai, who was regarded as the fifth-generation descendant of Emperor Ojin, the most distant example of such a succession in Imperial history.

Can it truly be called "tradition" to place the Imperial throne in such a lineage? The argument of conservatives cannot be regarded as preserving tradition; rather, it amounts to the creation of a separate and alternative Imperial line.

First, change the unconstitutional provision for male-line males

Therefore, in any revision of the Imperial House Law, the first step should be to amend the provision restricting imperial succession exclusively to male-line males - a provision that can be considered unconstitutional from the time of its enactment. A succession order that does not distinguish between men and women, as adopted by virtually all modern European monarchies (with some minor exceptions), should naturally be introduced. Those who attempt to obstruct this by claiming that such a change would violate tradition are doing nothing more than endangering Japan’s healthy development.

What is particularly surprising is that when opposition parties express their views on revisions to the Imperial House Law, they fail to address these fundamental issues. Instead, they focus on secondary procedural matters, such as concerns that the families of female Imperial Family members would become divided between Imperial and ordinary citizens. Such arguments merely obscure the central issue.

Among the opposition parties, the Japanese Communist Party has presented the most reasonable position. In response to Diet member Tetsuya Shiokawa's question on July 10 - "Why can a woman not become Emperor? Why is there such insistence on male-line male succession?" - the Chief Cabinet Secretary appeared unable to provide a satisfactory response based solely on the materials available to him.

Looking back, during the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the "Advisory Council on the Imperial House Law" was established, and it issued its report in 2005. Among its members were Professor Sumiko Iwao, whom I deeply respect, Professor Sadako Ogata, and Professor Koji Sato, who was my mentor. The report proposed expanding eligibility for imperial succession from “male-line males” to a system based on "primogeniture regardless of gender," thereby accepting the possibility of both female and female-line Emperors. Unfortunately, just as preparations were being made for a revision of the Imperial House Law, the birth of a male child in the Akishino branch caused public momentum in favor of accepting female and female-line succession to rapidly fade, eventually leading to the absurd proposal we are now facing.

The issue, however, is not limited to the Imperial House Law alone. What concerns me deeply about Japan's future is the rapid shift toward the right in recent years on fundamental issues concerning the direction of the country - including the question of separate surnames for married couples, international relations, and national security - combined with the fact that younger generations increasingly tend to support this rightward shift. I am also deeply disappointed by the extremely weak opposition presented by the opposition parties.

Not only the Japan Innovation Party and the Conservative Party of Japan, which are either as rigidly conservative as the government or even more so, but also parties such as the Democratic Party for the People that align themselves with such positions, must ultimately bear responsibility for leading the country in what I believe is the wrong direction.

The well-being of dedicated members of the Imperial Family is the key to a stable imperial succession

In order to preserve Japan's Imperial system, I believe that something far more important than simply increasing the number of members of the Imperial Family is necessary. That is to create an environment in which members of the Imperial Family can carry out their public duties while living more relaxed and fulfilling lives.

Even as members of the Imperial Family, they cannot enjoy a luxurious lifestyle like wealthy private citizens. On the other hand, the restrictions and pressures that come with being a member of the Imperial Family are beyond ordinary imagination. I myself once worked in a field connected with the Imperial Household, and there was a period when I experienced the constraints and difficulties associated with such work. At that time, I once heard a self-deprecating comment from a member of the Imperial Family: "People like you may spend a few years working in connection with the Imperial Household and then be free from it, but once you become part of the Imperial Family, it is a 'life sentence.' "

We should think seriously about how to reduce these constraints and allow members of the Imperial Family to live more human lives, and concrete measures to achieve this should be implemented immediately.

Unlike in the past, members of the present-day Imperial Family have not only lost political rights, but are also expected to maintain exemplary standards of personal conduct. They are constantly exposed to the watchful eyes of the media and are not in a position to enjoy a free social life.

Furthermore, there are rigid and inflexible conservatives who, while loudly proclaiming the preservation of tradition, seek to shape the Imperial system according to their own preferences rather than considering the actual human beings who belong to it. These include conservative factions within the Liberal Democratic Party and members of organizations such as the Japan Conference (Nippon Kaigi) who share their views.

Ironically, many of the leading figures of such conservative movements are women, including the commentator Yoshiko Sakurai and politicians Sanae Takaichi, Eriko Yamatani, and Tomomi Inada. It is ironic that, simply because they are women, they have gained support from many ordinary women who assume that their positions must naturally be favorable to women's interests, without recognizing the implications of the views they advocate.

The difficulties endured by Empress Emerita Michiko and Empress Masako, who entered such a social environment, must surely have been understood to some extent by the people of Japan. Under these circumstances, how many young people would truly wish to become spouses of members of the Imperial Family?

Unlike European societies, Japan is not a society in which a transnational social class of royalty and nobility still exists. Once the Imperial Family has come to symbolize the unity of the Japanese people, it becomes extremely difficult for its members to marry foreigners. In particular, I cannot imagine that those conservatives who place such importance on male-line male succession would ever accept such a possibility. For young members of the present Imperial Family, unlike European royal families, the choice of potential spouses is necessarily restricted to a narrow circle of Japanese citizens.

How many people in Japan are truly suitable to become spouses of members of the Imperial Family? people who could serve as a kind of social foundation supporting the Imperial institution? It is true that there are still families with historical backgrounds, such as former feudal lord families or those that have inherited traditional values across generations. However, even these families may gradually be losing their former presence and influence. The closer people are to the Imperial Family and the more they understand its realities, the more likely they are to avoid becoming spouses of Imperial Family members. Surely, this reality is not entirely unknown to the public.

Rather than viewing members of the Imperial Family as if they were mere components of a system to be preserved for the sake of Japanese politics or tradition, we must recognize that they are human beings and create conditions in which they can carry out their public duties while living fulfilling human lives. Otherwise, regardless of whether the debate centers on male-line male succession or female-line succession, the Imperial Family will eventually cease to exist. The first priority must be to create an environment in which people would willingly choose to become members of the Imperial Family.

I have had the privilege of serving Their Majesties the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Emerita, as well as Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress and Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino. From my own experience, I believe that they have sincerely devoted themselves to their duties and have worked tirelessly with the interests of the entire Japanese people in mind.

I hope that they can feel that their dedication has been truly recognized and rewarded. Above all, I hope that they may one day enjoy the simple freedoms that ordinary people take for granted - such as saying, "There is a shop nearby that serves delicious cakes; why don't we go there and take a break?" and being able to do so without hesitation.

 2026.7.15