Japan’s monarchy under threat from its ‘male-only’ succession rules – with only one young heir in waiting and princesses who could play a supporting role forced to quit if they wed commoners

Japan’s royal family, the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy, is facing a succession crisis – because women still aren’t allowed to take to the throne. 

Emperor Naruhito, 64, has just one daughter by his wife Empress Masako, Princess Aiko, who was born in 2001 after the royal couple underwent fertility treatment.

The dynasty currently has three male heirs: Fumihito, Crown Prince Akishino, 58, who is the Emperor’s brother, Prince Hisahito – Fumihito’s 17-year-old son, and third-in-line Prince Hitachi, who is 88 and the brother of former Emperor Emeritus.

It’s been five years since Naruhito ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1st 2019 following the historic abdication of his father Emperor Akihito at the age of 87. 

The question of who’s up next continues to perplex both the royal family and the country’s political parties, which last week began discussing revamping the succession rules. 

Being a young woman in the country’s Imperial House isn’t an entirely enviable role; A Japanese princess can currently never by Empress and must lose her royal title if she chooses to wed a commoner. 

Her children with said commoner would also never form part of the Imperial House. 

Emperor Naruhito’s daughter Aiko, now 22, already lives a life moulded by the dynasty she’s part of – surrounded by intense levels of security and unable to have political views or vote. 

The young royal lives with her parents at The Imperial Palace in Edo Castle in Tokyo and works as a newsletter editor for the Japanese Red Cross Society, a role she combines with her royal engagements. 

For now wedded to a life of public duty, Aiko, might yet look to the path her first cousin, Princess Mako, has taken; the former royal enjoys an upper-class quiet life in New York.  

In 2017, Crown Prince Fumihito’s eldest daughter, 32, sent shockwaves through the country when she announced she was giving up her royal title to marry Kei Komuro, her long-term boyfriend. 

Mako and Komuro met at Tokyo’s International Christian University in 2013 and became engaged in secret, before announcing their intention to marry in September 2017, which sparked huge scrutiny.

A furore erupted a few months after the news they were to wed broke, with tabloids reporting a financial dispute between Kei Komuro’s mother and her former fiance, with the man claiming mother and son had failed to repay a debt of about $35,000. 

Komuro later said the money had been a gift, not a loan. But in 2021, he submitted a 24-page explanation and later reportedly said he would pay a settlement. 

Their subsequent wedding in October 2021 was distinctly low-key. 

It was met with protests, held behind closed doors without any of the pomp and pageantry of other Japanese royal weddings, which traditionally include a reception, banquet, and a parade through the streets of Tokyo.

Mako was simply dressed in a blue dress and carried a bunch of white flowers, and the nuptials took place at a registry office, away from cameras and the public.

Reading out a prepared statement, Mako defended her decision to marry, describing Kei as ‘irreplaceable’ and saying ‘our marriage is a necessary step for us to be able to protect our hearts.’   

Mako also surrendered a £1million payment she was entitled to according to Japanese tradition, becoming the first imperial family member since World War II to not receive the payment.

Now living simply as Mako Komuro, the former Princess lives in a luxurious but modest – at least according to the proportions of the Imperial Palace – apartment in the Big Apple, with the pair regularly pictured on shopping trips together in the city.   

Current Imperial Household Law, established in 1947, states that only a male descendant of a male emperor can succeed to the throne.  

Japan has had eight female monarchs between the sixth and 18th centuries, however none came through a female line of descent.   

One option for reform would be allowing women to keep their imperial status after marrying, regardless of their husbands’ status, so that any future sons could join the line of succession. 

This is opposed by traditionalists who argue that legitimate succession can only pass through the male line.  

Another possibility to be raised by the panel relates to former aristocratic families, whose imperial status was abolished during the U.S. Occupation of Japan following the empire’s defeat in the Second World War.

The proposal suggests that scions of these families could be adopted into the emperor’s family.

The Japanese imperial family is considered to be the world’s oldest monarchy, with an unbroken line of male succession that can be traced back two millennia.

Mythology, recognised by the Imperial House, has the legendary Emperor Jimmu, said to be a descendant of a sun goddess and a storm god, as the first of 126 Japanese emperors leading up to the current Emperor Naruhito.