Japan parties hold talks on imperial family, first under Prime Minister Takaichi

TOKYO – Japan’s political parties from both parliamentary houses met on April 15 to discuss ways to maintain the number of imperial family members, the first such talks since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office in October 2025.

Ms Takaichi’s government plans to summarise discussions and compile Parliament’s view on amending the 1947 Imperial House Law to ensure stable succession to the Chrysanthemum Throne amid concerns about the shrinking size of the imperial family.

At the meeting, all 13 parties and groups will present their views on two major legislative proposals – having female members who marry commoners retain their imperial status, and letting male heirs from former branches be adopted into the imperial family.

The ruling camp of the Liberal Democratic Party, led by Ms Takaichi, and its junior partner, the Japan Innovation Party, aims to revise the law during the ongoing 150-day parliamentary session through mid-July. Their coalition agreement in October stated that the latter proposal is their “first choice”.

The ruling bloc won more than 350 seats in the 465-member House of Representatives in an election in February, well above the two-thirds threshold required to override the House of Councillors, where the coalition remains in a minority, to push through bills.

The Centrist Reform Alliance, the main opposition party in the Lower House, has been struggling to reach an internal consensus. It was formed just weeks before the election by lawmakers from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Komeito party, the LDP’s former ally.

The previous gathering on the matter was held in April 2025.

The move comes as securing imperial family members has become a more urgent task since there are only three heirs to 66-year-old Emperor Naruhito – his younger brother Crown Prince Fumihito, 60, nephew Prince Hisahito, 19, and uncle Prince Hitachi, 90.

Prince Hisahito is the only unmarried male in the imperial family. The current law limits heirs to a male who has an emperor on his father’s side, while requiring female members to leave the family upon marriage to a commoner.

In a non-binding resolution in June 2017, committees on the issue in both the Lower and Upper houses called on the government to promptly hold discussions on “challenges in securing a stable imperial succession”.

The two proposals for amending the law were submitted in 2021 by the government’s expert panel, which did not touch on whether women or matrilineal imperial members would be eligible to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne, saying it would be premature to go into the specifics of the issue.

Japan’s hereditary monarchy is traditionally said to stretch back more than 2,600 years, including early emperors whose existence is disputed and several female emperors, with the throne consistently passed down the male line. KYODO NEWS