EXCLUSIVE: Japan may defer imperial succession talks until after Spring 2020

April 17, 2019

Tokyo--Some Japanese government officials are calling for deferring the start of discussions on the issue of stable Imperial succession until after the last of a series of events related to Emperor Akihito's abdication and Crown Prince Naruhito's enthronement is held in spring next year, Jiji Press learned Tuesday.

They believe that it would be undesirable for discussions on the matter to possibly heat up before the string of events end, informed sources said.

Japan is facing an urgent need to consider measures to ensure stable Imperial succession at a time when the number of male members of the Imperial Family in the succession line has been decreasing.

If the government postpones the launch of the discussions for about a year, it may face criticism from opposition parties, pundits said.

Possible discussion topics may include whether to allow women in the Imperial Family to head branches of the family after their marriages and keep their status as members of the family, the sources said.

Under the Imperial House Law, a woman in the Imperial Family who marries a person outside the family would lose her status of the Imperial Family member.

An additional resolution of the special one-time law to enable Emperor Akihito's abdication stipulates that the government should start discussions on stable Imperial succession soon after the law takes effect on April 30 this year, when the Emperor steps down, and report the results to the Diet, the country's parliament, promptly.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has said he wants the government to launch the discussions without waiting too long after Emperor Akihito's abdication and Crown Prince Naruhito's enthronement, scheduled for May 1.

When such discussions are held, however, it would be inevitable for the government to refer to the ideas of allowing women or Imperial Family members who have Emperors on their mother's side to assume the throne.

The ideas were initially proposed in 2005 by a private advisory panel of then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

As conservatives, who are the main supporters of current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, oppose these ideas, Imperial succession talks are highly likely to heat up once they are actually launched, analysts said.

The Imperial House Law spells out that the throne "shall be succeeded to by a male offspring in the male line belonging to the Imperial lineage."

The series of abdication- and enthronement-related events to be held as acts in matters of state under the constitution will start with the "Taiirei-Seiden-no-Gi" abdication ceremony on April 30. The last of the events will be "Rikkoshi-no-Rei," on April 19, 2020, to proclaim Prince Akishino as first in line to the throne after the enthronement of Prince Naruhito, the eldest son of the current Emperor.

Prince Akishino, the second son of the Emperor, is currently second in line to the throne.

"We don't want discussions on stable Imperial succession to heat up," a source in the government said, adding that the talks "will be kicked off after the Rikkoshi-no-Rei ceremony."

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party hopes to refrain from holding discussions on the matter, which could divide its members, ahead of the election in summer this year for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, informed sources said.

Meanwhile, Tadamori Oshima, speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, said in a speech on Monday that he wants the government to initiate the talks after related ceremonies slated this year ends, in autumn.

A government official said it would be difficult for the government to win public understanding for postponing the start of the discussions for about a year.

Against this background, the government is expected to seek the best timing for such talks while paying close attention to public opinion, pundits said. Jiji Press