Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Japan is running out of royals. So why won’t it let women become
emperor?
Before the current 126th emperor Naruhito took the throne in 2019,
there were eight empresses in Japan’s 27-century-old imperial family. But in
1989, the Imperial House Law banned female emperors. Then in 1947, the imperial
family was downsized to the immediate relatives of then Emperor Hirohito, abandoning
11 collateral branches. The current shortage of successors began from there because
he had only two sons, one of whom had no children. Now, Emperor Naruhito is 66
years old and has just one daughter. His only brother is 60 and has two
daughters and one son, who will turn 20 this September. Japan’s royal family
members perform a variety of duties, such as attending state functions, public
activities, and court ceremonies, but now they are done by fewer members
because female members leave the royal family once they get married. Another serious
issue is succession. There is only one male in the next generation of the current
royal family. While the emperor's only child, Princess Aiko, is widely popular
among Japanese citizens, conservative politicians and scholars dismiss the chance
of creating an empress. So, how will the world’s longest royal family survive?
Read the article and learn about the existential problem of Japan’s royal
family.
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