Japanese imperial succession controversy
The Japanese Imperial succession controversy refers to the question of whether Japan's laws of succession should be changed from male-only primogeniture to equal primogeniture - that is, again allowing women of the Imperial house to inherit the Chrysanthemum Throne.
Eight women have served as reigning empresses during the approximately 1,500-year recorded history of Japan, furthermore two empresses of them have abdicated before their demise and acceded to the throne again in renewed names. The last time the country had an Empress was in 1771, when Empress Go-Sakuramachi abdicated in favor of her nephew, Emperor Go-Momozono. Compare also with . However, women were barred from the throne during the 19th century Meiji Restoration, and this prohibition was continued by the Imperial Household Law of 1947, enacted under Japan's post-World War II constitution. The 1947 law further restricts the succession to legitimate male descendants in the male line of imperial ancestors, and specifically bars the emperor and other members of the imperial family from adopting children.
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, has sparked a lively debate in Japan about Imperial succession. To complicate matters, Crown Prince Naruhito's brother, Prince Akishino, only has two daughters, and the two other collateral members of the Imperial Family, Prince Tomohito of Mikasa and the late Prince Takamado, also have daughters. No male heir to the throne has been born in forty years (see Current order of succession).
Some people, as The Japan Times' editorial on February 12, 2006 , express their hope that Princess Kiko's child would be a daughter, so that Princess Aiko could become ruling empress. They stressed that it was necessary to have a ruling empress to act as a symbol for social reform over womens' issues in Japan.
The public support for abandoning the principle of male-only succession is high but has been declining. An opinion poll carried out by Asahi Shimbun in February 2006 shows that 66 percent of the respondents favor the plan to allow women to ascend the throne and that 60 percent think the emperor's descendants in the female line may reign. It also shows that 60 percent are for the government's decision of suspending the process of the law change.
Timeline of events
 On January 24, 2005, the Japanese government announced that it would consider allowing the Crown Prince and Princess to adopt a male child, in order to avoid a possible "heir crisis". Adoption is an age-old imperial Japanese tradition, prohibited for dynastic purposes only in modern times. The child would presumably be adopted from former royal descendants whose branches lost imperial titles after World War II. However, a government-appointed panel of experts submitted a report on October 25, 2005, recommending that the Imperial succession law be amended to permit equal primogeniture.
In November, 2005, it was reported that Emperor Akihito's cousin Prince Tomohito of Mikasa had privately announced objection to the non-male-only line succession, in a magazine's column of the welfare association which he serves as president. He had suggested the four options to continue the male-only line succession there; the fourth was the concubine which was allowed by the former law of imperial succession. However, this is clearly the minority view. Public opinion surveys have repeatedly shown widespread support for permitting women to ascend the throne.
On January 20, 2006, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi used part of his annual keynote speech to address the controversy when he pledged to submit a bill to the Japanese Diet letting women ascend to the throne in order that imperial succession may be continued into the future in a stable manner. Koizumi did not announce any particular timing for the legislation to be introduced, nor did he provide details about its content, but said that it would be in line with the conclusions of the 2005 government panel.
On February 1, 2006, former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma invoked controversy by arguing against the proposed reform bill because Princess Aiko might marry a foreigner in the future .
On February 6, 2006, it was announced that Prince Akishino's wife Princess Kiko is pregnant. If the baby is male, according to the current succession law he will be third in line to the throne, but Princess Aiko, who now holds no right to succession, would have precedence over him as well as over her uncle too, if the law is changed.
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