Diet discussions begin in May to prevent the Imperial Family from shrinking

TOKYO – The Liberal Democratic Party on Friday laid out its position on how to ensure that the imperial family retains enough members.

A team within the party under the direct control of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is also chairman of the party, concluded that the legal basis needed to be laid for the realization of the two plans, presented in a report by a panel of experts on the matter .

The ruling party will convey its position to the heads of both houses of the Diet as early as this week.

The panel’s 2021 report presented two plans to ensure there are enough members of the Imperial Family. These retained the imperial status of women after they married, and used adoption to restore the imperial status of male members of former imperial family branches based on their paternal descent.

In the event that both plans fail, the panel presented a third plan, which was intended to restore through legislation the imperial status of male members of former imperial family branches based on their paternal descent. There were no objections to this proposal during the team meeting.

Fast forward to revisions

Now that the LDP has determined its position on the issue, the ruling and opposition parties are expected to begin discussions sometime around Golden Week in early May. They plan to expedite discussions on necessary revisions to the Imperial House Law.

After the meeting Friday, Seiji Kihara, acting secretary general of the LDP, told reporters that the party’s position is “largely in accordance with the panel’s report.”

LDP coalition partner Komeito and opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, have already put together their own positions, which are generally consistent with what is stated in the panel’s report.

Fukushiro Nukaga, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, had expressed his intention to start talks between the parties once the LDP finalizes its positions.

If the ruling and opposition parties agree on concrete measures, the government plans to move forward with legislation, including changes to the Imperial House Law.

“We would like to take the necessary measures based on the results of the Diet discussions,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a news conference on Friday.

The immediate problem is to ensure that there are enough members of the imperial family, but the question of how to guarantee a stable succession to the throne will also have to be addressed.

A senior LDP official said the plan to adopt male members of former imperial family branches “would lead to a stable succession to the throne.”

But he noted that “the issues surrounding the succession to the throne will be discussed in future discussions.”