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Japan parliament revises imperial succession law to limit royal-family shrinkage
The revised Imperial House Law allows adoption of male relatives from former imperial branch families aged 15 and up, and lets women keep imperial status after marrying commoners.
Japan’s parliament has approved a revised Imperial House Law aimed at addressing the shrinking size of the royal family, while keeping the existing male only succession system, according to SCMP Economy citing Kyodo.
The first substantive changes to the 1947 law permit the adoption of males aged 15 and over from former branch families descended from emperors through the male line, and they allow female imperial family members to retain their imperial status even after marrying commoners.
Under the revised law, male descendants of men adopted into the imperial family can ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne, a shift that the article notes makes previously unfeasible adoptions possible.
SCMP Economy also reports that the timing is sensitive because Japan has only three male heirs to Emperor Naruhito, and it notes critics questioned the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner, the Japan Innovation Party, over efforts to preserve male and paternal line succession.