Parties fail to reach consensus in imperial succession talks
Diet chamber speakers and representatives of parties and factions attend a meeting based on the law concerning special measures for the imperial household on April 17. (Takeshi Iwashita)
Ruling and opposition parties have essentially shelved talks in the Diet on whether to grant imperial family status to spouses and children of female family members, sources said June 3.
The parties, discussing how to secure stable succession to the Chrysanthemum throne, decided they cannot reach a 'consensus of the legislature' during the current Diet session, which closes on June 22, the sources said.
In the talks so far, the parties agreed that female members of the imperial family should retain their status after marriage.
But the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan could not narrow their differences over the treatment of spouses and children of female family members.
Taro Aso, the LDP's top adviser, CDP President Yoshihiko Noda and the speaker and deputy speaker of the Lower House have been discussing the issue behind the scenes.
The four were scheduled to hold talks on June 3, but the meeting was canceled because no compromise was expected.
Noda proposed that the status of spouses and children be determined by the imperial household council, whose members include the prime minister and speaker and deputy speaker of both Diet chambers.
However, Aso rejected the proposal, saying a system under which a civilian male can become an imperial family member could lead to acceptance of an emperor who inherited the imperial bloodline from the mother's side of the emperor.
The LDP had confirmed its opposition to the proposal at a party meeting in May.
An agreement appeared more likely concerning how to deal with the descendants of 11 family branches that lost their imperial status after World War II.
The four discussed a system that would allow the imperial family to adopt only male descendants of the 11 branches who inherited the imperial bloodline from the father's side of the emperor.
Although they were nearing an agreement on this measure, they decided not to make a conclusion because of the lack of consensus on the other issue.
A proposal has now emerged to organize and present the current points of agreement and differences for linkage to future discussions.
(This article was written by Anri Takahashi and Takahiro Okubo.)
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