Japan is facing domestic and international criticism for revising the Imperial House Law to secure the number of royals by allowing the adoption of male descendants from former imperial branches, while completely bypassing discussions on allowing female succession and maintaining the "male-line male" inheritance rule.
The House of Councillors in the Japanese Diet held a plenary session yesterday (July 17) and passed the amendment to the Imperial House Law. The revision allows male descendants of former imperial families to be adopted into the imperial family, granting them succession rights if they produce a son.
Princess Aiko, the only daughter of the current Emperor Naruhito, is ineligible to inherit the throne under the current law, which recognizes only male-line males. Critics argue that the government has merely increased the possibilities for male succession without addressing the issue of female eligibility.
According to Jiji Press, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres responded to a media inquiry regarding the amendment on July 17 (local time) by stating, "We encourage inclusive policies that lead to the advancement of women's rights in all positions and professions in all countries."
This is interpreted as an indirect criticism of the Japanese amendment, which effectively excludes women from imperial succession.
Previously, in 2024, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women recommended that Japan revise its Imperial House Law, stating that limiting succession rights to males is incompatible with the principles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
At the time, the Japanese government pushed back, arguing that "the qualification to ascend the throne is not included in fundamental human rights and does not constitute discrimination against women."
Major Japanese media outlets also gave prominent coverage to the passage of the amendment, which marks the first change to the main text of the Imperial House Law since 1949, and collectively criticized it for being out of touch with public opinion.
The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's largest daily newspaper, published an editorial titled "Damaging the Foundation of the Symbolic Emperor System," criticizing the move as a "reckless institutional change fraught with flaws that ignores the bond between the people and the symbolic Emperor that has grown over the 80 years since the war."
The Asahi Shimbun cited recent remarks by Emperor Naruhito expressing his hope for "discussions that gain the understanding of the people," pointing out that politicians are ignoring the fact that 70 percent of the public supports female succession.
Furthermore, Japanese media noted that while other monarchies in countries such as Spain, the Netherlands, and Sweden have established principles of absolute primogeniture regardless of gender, Japan remains the only one clinging to an outdated male-line male succession system.
In contrast, the conservative Sankei Shimbun defended the amendment, noting that less than 10 percent of lawmakers voted against it.
The male descendants of former imperial families who could potentially be adopted into the imperial house are related to the current Emperor Naruhito through ancestors from about 600 years ago, placing them in the 36th to 38th degree of kinship. It is reported that there are about six individuals who meet the criteria under the new Imperial House Law.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)