Editorial: Japan's ruling LDP lacks sense of urgency over securing Imperial Family members

The Mainichi

a day ago

Discussions between Japan's ruling and opposition parties over measures to secure the number of Imperial Family members have hit a snag, and it is expected that they will forgo reaching consensus in this Diet session.
The Imperial House Law stipulates that female Imperial Family members are to leave the family upon marriage. As the number of Imperial Household members dwindles, there are concerns that so will their activities at this rate.
This is an issue that affects the foundation of this nation. The governing parties seem to lack a sense of urgency, for they are not putting their full effort into building a consensus over the matter.
All the parties share the view that female Imperial Family members should be allowed to retain their status after marriage. However, the parties failed to reach an agreement after the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) remained at odds over whether to allow their husbands and children to join the Imperial Family.
What stood out was the LDP's obstinate attitude.
The CDP takes the position that the parties should consider giving the husbands and children of those female members the Imperial status. If their marriage is treated equally to that of male Imperial Family members, differences will not arise in status within a family.
The LDP, meanwhile, argues that the husbands and children of those female members should not be granted the Imperial status, as the party is wary this will "give rise to the birth of emperors of female lineage who have no emperor on their father's side, raising the possibility of breaking the tradition of having emperors of the male lineage." Under that scenario, the husbands and children would be allowed to freely engage in political, economic and religious activities as commoners, which critics say could lead to political exploitation of the Imperial Family.
The LDP also refused the scenario of the parties agreeing only to allow female members to retain Imperial status upon marriage while shelving the treatment of their husbands and children's status. The LDP showed no willingness to make even a step toward resolving the longstanding issue.
The LDP has stuck to a proposal to allow males of the male lineage from the former Imperial branch families to be adopted into the Imperial Family. However, giving special treatment to former Imperial branch families alone could lead to "discrimination by family origin" prohibited under the Constitution of Japan.
The issue of Imperial succession, to begin with, was not among the topics for discussion in this Diet session.
Of the six Imperial Family members younger than Emperor Naruhito's generation, Prince Hisahito, the only son of Crown Prince Akishino (Fumihito), is the only male with the right to succeed to the Imperial Throne. For the Imperial Household system to be sustainable, discussion over whether to allow female emperors and emperors of female lineage is unavoidable. There is no need to block future options at this point.
The Constitution stipulates that the Emperor is "the symbol of the unity of the people" and "derives his position from the will of the people." It is a political responsibility to work out an agreement that can win support from a broad segment of the public.