Akihito\u2019s<\/a> younger brother and third in line to the throne, is 90.<\/p>\nAkishino acknowledged the aging and shrinking royal population, “but nothing can be done under the current system.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think all we can do right now is to scale back our official duties,” he told reporters ahead of his 60th birthday Sunday.<\/p>\n
Last year, the crown prince noted that royal members are \u201chuman beings\u201d whose lives are affected by the discussion, a nuanced but rare comment. He has seen no change, though palace officials have sincerely taken his remark, Akishino said Sunday.<\/p>\n
Aiko had also previously said she is aware of the declining royal population, but could not comment on the system. \u201cUnder the circumstances, I hope to sincerely serve every official duty and help the emperor and the empress, as well as other members of the Imperial Family.\u201d<\/p>\n
The shortage of male successors is a serious worry for the monarchy, which some historians say has lasted for 1,500 years. It’s also a reflection of Japan\u2019s broader problem of a rapidly aging and shrinking population.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the situation is already critical,\u201d said Hideya Kawanishi, a Nagoya University professor and expert on monarchy. Its future is totally up to Hisahito and his potential wife’s ability to produce a male offspring. \u201cWho wants to marry him? If anyone does, she would endure enormous pressure to produce a male heir while performing official duties at a superhuman capacity.”<\/p>\n
Hisahito must carry the burden and the Imperial Family\u2019s fate by himself, former Imperial Household Agency chief Shingo Haketa said in a Yomiuri newspaper article this year. \u201cThe fundamental question is not whether to allow a male or female succession line but how to save the monarchy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Japan’s male-only succession system is relatively new<\/p>\n
Japan traditionally had male emperors, but there have also been eight female monarchs. The last was Gosakuramachi, who ruled from 1762 to 1770.<\/p>\n
The male-only succession rule became law in 1889 and was carried over to the postwar 1947 Imperial House Law.<\/p>\n
Experts say the system had only previously worked with the help of concubines who, until about 100 years ago, produced half of the past emperors.<\/p>\n
The government proposed allowing a female monarch in 2005, but Hisahito\u2019s birth allowed nationalists to scrap the proposal.<\/p>\n
The unfruitful search for a male successor<\/p>\n
In 2022, a largely conservative expert panel called on the government to maintain its male-line succession while allowing female members of the family to keep their royal status after marriage and continue their official duties. The conservatives also proposed adopting male descendants from defunct distant branches of the royal family to continue the male lineage, an idea seen as unrealistic.<\/p>\n
The United Nations women\u2019s rights committee in Geneva urged the Japanese government last year to allow a female emperor, saying that not doing so hindered gender equality in Japan.<\/p>\n
Japan dismissed the report as \u201cregrettable\u201d and \u201cinappropriate,” saying the imperial succession is a matter of fundamental national identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThough it\u2019s not spelled out, what they\u2019re saying is clearly in favor of male superiority. That\u2019s their ideal society,\u201d Kawanishi, the professor, said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TOKYO (AP) \u2014 Japan\u2019s beloved Princess Aiko is often cheered like a pop star. During a visit to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,165279,165275,165276,88,3471,90889,165278,165274,35240,165277],"class_list":{"0":"post-323522","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-crown-prince-akishino","10":"tag-emperor-naruhito","11":"tag-empress-masako","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-japan","14":"tag-nagasaki","15":"tag-prince-hisahito","16":"tag-princess-aiko","17":"tag-succession","18":"tag-succession-law"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}