The Japanese imperial succession controversy refers to desires to change the laws of succession to the Japanese Throne, which is currently limited to males of the Japanese imperial family.
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Traditionally, the imperial throne was passed on under custom which resembled the rule of agnatic seniority. Theoretically, any male or female with patrilineal lineage to early Japanese monarchs, who mythically descended in direct male line from the mythical first emperor, Jimmu Tenno, could come to hold the Chrysanthemum throne. In practice, preference was given to first-born male offspring of a preceding male monarch, followed by his brothers, sons and other males of the immediate male-line family; and ultimately followed by representatives of Shinnoke houses, in other words, male-line relatives, occasionally very distant male cousins. Because there existed no restrictions on remarriage or polygyny in historical Japan, there existed usually a plenitude of male relatives who could take over the throne. However, there are several historical instances of women holding the throne. An empress' offspring does not have claim to the throne from the said maternal lineage, so assigning a female to the throne had the convenient effect of postponing succession disputes. On other occasions, the direct male heir was yet a toddler and unable to perform imperial rituals. In such instance, his mother, aunt or elder sister, if also held imperial lineage through her patriline, temporarily took over the throne until the child came to puberty, which was deemed perfectly sufficient for a boy's accession.
However, after the Meiji restoration, Japan imported the Prussian model of imperial succession, in which imperial females were explicitly excluded from the claim to succession. More significantly, as a part of the effort to westernise and modernise Japan, the Japanese government banned polygamy, which was previously allowed to any family with noble rank (samurai or kuge), particularly if the first wife could not produce male offspring. After World War II, a further restriction was instituted; new rules meant that only the closest relatives of the then emperor Hirohito (children and descendants, siblings and their descendants) could be part of the official imperial family, and have a claim to succession.
The current emperor Akihito has two sons: Crown Prince Naruhito and Prince Akishino; Prince Akishino is the father of the emperor's only grandson, Prince Hisahito of Akishino. The emperor's brother Prince Hitachi has no children. The emperor's uncle Prince Mikasa has no male-line grandsons.
Controversy exists as to what extent the current rule of succession under the Imperial Household Law of 1947 should be changed. Those on the Right advocate a change, holding the Prussian-style agnatic primogeniture, but bringing back the previously excluded male relatives into the imperial household. Liberals would advocate the adoption of absolute primogeniture. Moderates would advocate re-adoption of earlier, indigenous customs of succession, that is, that a female can succeed to the throne as long as she holds precedence in seniority or proximity within the patrilineal kinship. The late Imperial Princess Kikuko, the last surviving Arisugawa-Takamatsu and aunt to the current Emperor, advocated the traditional, customary rights of female princesses to succession, in her media interviews and articles, after the birth of princess Aiko.
Adoption of absolute primogeniture would permit, as has happened in history, unmarried or widowed female descendants in the male line of the Imperial House to inherit the Chrysanthemum Throne, but would also allow something unprecedented: it would allow married princesses and princesses' children whose fathers are not descendants in the male line of the earlier emperors, to ascend the throne. This scenario would mean that a new dynasty would take over the Chrysanthemum Throne.
Eight women have served as tennō, i.e. reigning empresses, during the recorded history of Japan on ten occasions. Two of those empresses have, after abdicating, reascended the throne under different names. The last time Japan had a reigning Empress was in 1771, when Empress Toshiko "Go-Sakuramachi" abdicated in favor of her nephew, Emperor Go-Momozono.
The ruling empresses have been:
(See Emperor of Japan: Succession)
Women were barred from the throne for the first time in 1889 by a Prussian-influenced constitution during the 19th century Meiji Restoration. This prohibition was continued by the Imperial Household Law of 1947, enacted under Japan's post-World War II constitution during the American occupation. More importantly, as a part of reforming Japan, Japan introduced a ban on polygyny and the Meiji Emperor was the last to have an official secondary consort.
The 1947 law further restricts the succession to legitimate male descendants in the male line of Meiji only (excluding other male lines of the imperial dynasty, such as Fushimi, Higashikuni, Kitashirakawa, etc.), and specifically bars the emperor and other members of the imperial family from adopting children. During the recent controversy over the succession, commentators suggested that the current system could not possibly function in the long term as it is unlikely that there will always be a male prince to succeed to the throne.
Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako have one child, HIH Princess Aiko (her official appellation is Toshi no Miya, or Princess Toshi), born on December 1, 2001. The child's birth, which occurred more than eight years after her parents' marriage and after the Crown Princess had considerable (and widely noted) difficulty in conceiving a child, sparked a lively debate in Japan about imperial succession. To add to this dearth of male heirs, Crown Prince Naruhito's brother, Prince Akishino, had two daughters, and the two other collateral members of the Imperial Family, Prince Tomohito of Mikasa and the late Prince Takamado, also had daughters. No male heir had been born into the Imperial Family in nearly 41 years.
In the early 2000s, the succession controversy emerged as a political issue. The Asahi Shimbun published an editorial in May 2006[1] suggesting that the current system was unsustainable. In an Asahi Shimbun survey in March 2006, 82% of the respondents supported the revision of the Imperial Household Law to allow a woman to ascend to the Imperial Throne.[2] Then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi also strongly supported the revision, pledging to present a bill to the 2006 session of the parliament.[3] Some conservative lawmakers opposed Koizumi and said the debate was premature. The current emperor's cousin, HIH Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, also opposed the proposal, saying that the official male members of the Japanese imperial family might take up concubines in order to produce male members because it was previously possible for a male illegitimate child to assume the imperial throne. Later he said that this remark was just a joke.[4]
Prince Akishino's wife, Princess Kiko, gave birth to a baby boy in September 2006. The child, Prince Hisahito, is now third in line to the Imperial Throne. Following the birth of Prince Hisahito, the political debate surrounding succession subsided. Koizumi withdrew his bill, though public opinion polling suggested that support for the change was still around 68%.[2]