Overview

• At the Imperial Palace, attendants replaced his youth headband with a black kanmuri crown, he donned adult regalia, rode by carriage to pray at three shrines, and met the emperor and empress.
• He stands next in succession after his father, with no younger male heirs remaining, and 89-year-old Prince Hitachi as the only other male in the line.
• Japan’s 1947 Imperial House Law limits succession to males, excluding Princess Aiko despite polling that shows broad support for a woman emperor.
• Reform remains stalled after a 2005 panel endorsed inheritance by the eldest child and a 2022 expert group favored preserving the male line while letting princesses keep status or restoring distant male branches.
• The post-ceremony schedule includes visits to Ise Shrine and imperial mausoleums, followed by a Wednesday luncheon with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.