Emperor speaks out on existential threat

Japan’s Emperor Naruhito has spoken of the shrinking and ageing of the royal family and the implications for the oldest surviving monarchy.

Japan's Emperor Naruhito speaks during a press conference at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Wednesday. Picture: pool/AFP

Emperor Naruhito has spoken of the shrinking and ageing of Japan’s royal family, with the country’s politicians deadlocked on proposals to save it from ­extinction.

On the eve of a visit to Britain with Empress Masako, Naruhito, 64, sidestepped the sensitive political question of how to reform a monarchy that is running out of heirs, but made a rare acknowledgment of the problem facing the world’s oldest monarchy.

“The number of male members of the imperial family is decreasing, they are ageing, and female members of the imperial family leave the imperial family upon marriage,” he said.

“Due to these factors, the number of members of the imperial family who can take on public ­duties is decreasing compared to before. This is a problem that relates to the future of the imperial family, but I would like to refrain from commenting on matters related to the (legal) system.”

Japan’s ruling and opposition parties recently abandoned discussions on how to deal with the problem. The Imperial Household Law says only a male child descended from a male emperor can accede to the throne.

Aside from the 90-year-old Emperor Emeritus Akihito, who abdicated in 2019, Naruhito’s family has only four male members.

Masako, 60, gave birth to Princess Aiko, their only child, in 2001 after fertility treatment. The emperor’s immediate heir is his younger brother, Crown Prince Fumihito, 58, who has a son, Hisahito, 17. The only other male member of the dynasty is Naruhito’s uncle, Prince Hitachi, who is 88.

Of the 17 members of the imperial family, eight are older than 60, including Princess Yuriko, who turned 101 this month. Apart from running out of heirs, there is a shortage of young, fit royals to perform official duties.

The most obvious solution, backed by 90 per cent of the public in a recent poll, is to change the law to allow a woman to take the throne as a reigning empress. That change is vehemently opposed by conservative members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Last month, the government and opposition parties began debating recommendations from a panel of experts which do not include female succession.

They suggested allowing princesses to remain within the family after marriage and making it possible for existing members of the imperial family to adopt descendants of its former cadet branches, which lost their royal status after World War II.

The LDP, however, insists that the children of princesses would not be entitled to become emperor, meaning the measure would increase the number of royals but not the number of heirs.

The opposition Constitutional Democratic Party wants the proposal to be considered, leading to the deadlock.

After Japan’s defeat in World War II, which was fought in the name of Naruhito’s grandfather Hirohito, emperors have avoided any political utterance, hence his reluctance to get involved in the debate.

THE TIMES