The proposal, presented at a directors' meeting of the Committee on Rules and Administration of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, also stopped short of indicating when the government should report the outcome of discussions on the issue of the dwindling ranks of the Imperial Family.

The LDP proposed stating in the supplementary resolution that the government will start discussions on the issue of the declining number of Imperial Family members, caused partly by marriages of women in the family, soon after the special abdication law comes into force and report the results of the discussions to parliament. Komeito, the coalition ally of the LDP, supported the idea.

By contrast, the biggest opposition Democratic Party proposed a resolution saying that the government will consider whether to allow women in the Imperial Family to establish family branches soon after the abdication law is enacted and report the outcome of the discussions to parliament in about a year. (Jiji Press)