Overview
- Supporters and campaigners are pressing lawmakers to permit a female monarch, pointing to Princess Aiko’s growing public appeal and recent overseas representation in Laos.
- Crown Prince Fumihito, at 60, tied the 80th year since World War II’s end to a call for reflection on peace and said scaling back imperial duties is the practical option under current rules.
- The imperial roster has shrunk to 16 adults, with the younger line of male heirs limited to Crown Prince Akishino and his 19-year-old son, Prince Hisahito, as Prince Hitachi is now 90.
- The 1947 Imperial House Law restricts succession to the male line and strips women of royal status upon marriage, a stance criticized by a U.N. committee and defended by conservatives including Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
- Over the past year Aiko expanded her duties with visits to Okinawa and Nagasaki and completed her first solo trip abroad to Laos, while continuing her work at the Japanese Red Cross Society.