Japan’s imperial family, which has long maintained a male-only lineage for emperors, is running out of royals. Now the country has a plan to help revitalize its dwindling ranks: Recruit more men.
Japan’s legislature, hoping to avoid a succession crisis, moved forward with a proposal this past week to allow the imperial family to adopt scores of distant male relatives. That could give Japan more choices for future emperors — only men are allowed to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne — and help ensure the survival of the world’s oldest monarchy.
The plan has angered some Japanese officials, commentators and activists, who say there is an easier solution: allowing women to reign as emperor, an idea embraced by a broad swath of the public, according to polls.
Posted by Good-Application5
7 Comments
“Many citizens want a female emperor now,” said Kiyomi Tsujimoto, a female lawmaker with the Constitutional Democratic Party who opposes the plan. “I have people running up to me every day.”
But in Japan’s patriarchal system, that idea is considered a nonstarter.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a conservative lawmaker, shattered the political glass ceiling last year when she became the first woman to lead Japan’s government. But she and her allies have been among the most vocal proponents of preserving the male-only lineage.
She has said that “it is considered appropriate to limit eligibility to male descendants of the imperial lineage.”
A Nod to Women
Japan has had female emperors with varying degrees of power, including Go-Sakuramachi, who reigned in the late 1700s. But men have dominated the ranks since then, and Ms. Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party, which has led Japan for much of the past seven decades, has long held that the male line of succession is sacrosanct.
The plan now in Parliament would give women in the imperial family some new rights. They would be allowed to stay in the family and retain their royal status if they marry a commoner.
But others argue that equality will not be achieved until women are allowed to reign, an idea that has been discussed on and off over the years. The popularity of Princess Aiko has added to a sense that women could be well suited for the role.
Hideya Kawanishi, an expert on the imperial family at Nagoya University, said the plan would not address the longer-term succession crisis. He said the problem could be solved by elevating women, and the reluctance to do so reflected prejudice in Japan.
“Even though society has changed, there are still old men who lament when a girl is born,” he said. “Over time, the imperial system will become unsustainable.”
Royal families are already an archaic idea. The idea that it be completely patriarchal only proves this.
If the emperor is the symbol of the state and unity of the people, and a united population wants a female emperor….duh
There is currently one sole heir to the Chrysanthemum throne.
The continuation of the Japanese royal family depends on Prince Hisahito producing a minimum 1 male heir and even then it means the royal family will be under the strain of extinction for another generation. We already saw the intense pressure for Empress Masako to produce an heir and how things had to change.
So this poor boy’s sole purpose is to make a son/sons and some poor Japanese woman out there (who the Japanese believe should come from an impeccable background) needs to help him fulfill that role. If they even considered Mako or Kakos kids as heirs this boy would be able to live out his life as he wished without knowing everyday of his life he has to have a son in order for his entire family to be relevant.
It’s probably better off for Princess Aiko that she’s not in the line of succession. It seems like a really difficult, unpleasant life.
The United States caused this. They abolished the aristocracy. Women in the royal family HAVE to marry commoners if they don’t want to marry their own relatives, but in doing so, they’ll lose their titles.
The United States did this on purpose. They wanted the Japanese monarchy to go extinct all on its own. Japan needs to re-write their constitution to fix this.