July 11, 2026

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Shiokawa Tetsuya, on July 10 at a meeting of the House of Representatives Steering Committee, brought up the government-proposed amendment to the Imperial House Law, which sticks to the imperial succession through male-line males as an “ironclad principle”, asking, “Why not a woman?”

In response, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Minoru said that it is because succession through male-line males has been maintained without exception.

Shiokawa pointed out that the postwar Constitution in its Article 2 does not contain the phrase, “Imperial male descendants”, which was used in the prewar Constitution to specify the imperial succession by male-line males. The JCP lawmaker noted that in 1946 during Diet deliberations on the current Constitution, Minister of State Kanamori Tokujiro, explaining the reason for not using that phrase, said that it is free to think whether the emperor should be male or female. Shiokawa criticized the Takaichi government for shutting the door on a female emperor without considering and debating the matter, and said, “Such a stance represents a step backwards from the level of debate 80 years ago.”

Shiokawa also took up the proposal that male descendants in the patrilineal line of 11 former imperial branches be adopted into the imperial family.

Shiokawa pointed out that members of the 11 branches in 1947 voluntarily gave up their royal status and became ordinary citizens, adding that the government proposal to restore descendants of such individuals to the imperial family status contradicts the current Imperial House Law that prohibits the emperor and members of the imperial family from adopting children. The JCP lawmaker asked about the difference in the degree of kinship between candidates for adoption in the 11 branches and the current emperor. Deputy Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Agency Ogata Yoshimi replied, “There is a difference of 36 to 38 degrees of kinship.”

Shiokawa stressed that many experts have mentioned difficulty in obtaining broad public understanding and support for the adoption of an individual whose common ancestor with the current emperor dates back 600 years. In addition, he said that granting the special status of the imperial family to an individual of a former imperial branch who was born and raised as an ordinary citizen would constitute discrimination based on social status and family origin prohibited under Article 14 of the Constitution.

Shiokawa also expressed concern that the involvement of people like politicians in adoption procedures may lead to more pronounced political use of the emperor.

Past related article:
> Koike: Imperial succession only through male-line males is not ‘consensus of legislative branch’ [ June 11, 2026]