The dynastic succession of females is a contentious issue in Japan. The 1947 Constitution tried to control the size of the Imperial Family by stipulating only legitimate male descendants in the male line as eligible for succession to the throne. But with the near-infertility of Japan’s aristocracy, movement was made to include females and allow four-year-old Princess Aiko to become Empress when she got older. Last year Japan began the process of re-examining the succession law. Historically six women have taken the throne on eight occasions.
Yesterday Japan’s Princess Kiko gave birth to a bouncing baby boy edging the little Aiko-sama out of her third place position in line of succession and setting back the near-term possibility of a Japanese Empress.
Soon-to-be prime minister Shinzo Abe has stated that he wants to change the Japanese Constitution for other reasons, but is dead set against changing the laws regarding succession. It is out of his hands now. But with the current crown prince — Aiko-sama’s father — only 47, there is plenty of time for laws to be changed by the time Aiko becomes of succession age.
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Comments to this entry
Curzon
September 7, 2006
2:45 am
The monarchy, believed to be the oldest in the world at 2,500 years, has always been passed down by the male heir, and the females you mention only reigned as regent.
Younghusband
September 7, 2006
7:31 pm
I am not aware of the regency aspect. Everything I have seen has referred to them as _tenno_. Suiko, the first Empress of Japan had a regent, Shotoku, during her 30 year reign. If you have something I could read up on I would be much obliged.
Either way regency is better than nothing. If the Imperial Household Law was changed to allow for equal primogeniture, they could still stipulate that it be maintained in the male line to keep the number of potential successors down.
Curzon
September 8, 2006
12:04 am
Conservatives who oppose changing the status to a female emperor, the most vocal of which include the Shinto religious, have published lots of material (available at Shinto shrines) on the history of the Imperial line, explaining the difference between 女性天çš”¡ and　女性系天çš”¡ (i.e. "A Female Emperor" v.s. "A Female Succession Emperor").
Koizumi said it best yesterday: "this postpones the question of whether or not to have a female emperor, but for the maintenance of the imperial line, this question will have to be addressed in the future."
Aki
September 8, 2006
1:44 pm
Elizabeth
September 8, 2006
8:50 pm
Or, so every father of an heir thinks. As the Russians say... let us toast to our wives, who are certainly the mothers of our children.
Two Cents
September 9, 2006
6:47 pm
First, Aiko presently has no claims to the throne. Thus, the new prince did not edge his little cousin out of anything. All he did was move his great uncles, who will most certainly be not in this world by the time their turn comes, down one slot. Besides, even if the succession law had been changed, there were many who believed that males should still be given precedence over females. Thus, contrary to what the media was propagating, the throne might have been passed from the Crown Prince to Prince Akishino, then Prince Mako, the daughter of Akishino. A close friend of Akishino has said in a magazine that one of the reasons the couple decided to have another child and try for a boy was that Akishino was horrified at the thought that Mako may be doomed to such a difficult life. While a male emperor at least has a chance of a happy marriage, the chances for a future reigning empress of leading a happily married life are slim.
Second, it was the Meiji Constitution implemented in 1890 that forbade females from ascending the throne. The reasoning was, although in the past it was possible to forbid a reigning empress from marrying, in modern days, such measures would be unacceptable according to 19th century values. However, such a marriage would make the husband's family dangerously powerful, since the sons would not be princes, but would be regarded as one by the public. Even now, the wife's family is given special treatment. One of the reasons some people do not like Masako is because her father, a former bureaucrat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has extensively used the fact that his daughter is married to the Crown Prince to his advantage, unlike the Empress's family. I'm sure Mr. Owada rests assured that investigations will never be made on his role in the suspected embezzlement of secret diplomatic funds by bureaucrats of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Third, Japan's aristocracy is far from being infertile. It's only the Crown Prince. Other royal families generally refrain from having many children because it would mean extra money, which is almost always met by mean comments like, "Who do you think is paying for your family?"Â? from leftist media. The Akishinos have always said they wanted more children. Only, they were told to wait until the Crown Prince had an heir, since Kiko having children would put more pressure on Masako. Seems they were given the go ahead last year.
Fourth, I do not think Abe is dead set against changing the succession law. He is for preserving the male lineage, and his current move to restore the politicians kicked out by Koizumi from the LDP during the postal reforms are a reflection of that. Most of them were against female succession. I think he is going to try to find a way to restore the families that have been removed from the imperial clan in 1947.
Younghusband
September 12, 2006
10:05 pm
Mutantfrog
September 13, 2006
2:05 am
In short, the verified age of the dynasty is actually more like 1500 years, still the longest dynasty in the world and impressive by any standard.