Pro-government newspaper in Japan shocks with ‘radical’ support for female emperor

(From left) Japan's Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and other royal family members attending the spring garden party at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo on April 22. -- PHOTO: AFP

TOKYO (The Straits Times/ANN): The two main conservative media outlets in Japan are waging a battle for public opinion, after the Yomiuri newspaper broached an idea long held to be taboo and one that breaks from right-wing values.

“We should not rule out the possibility of a female emperor, or an emperor through a female line,” the Yomiuri declared in its page one story on May 15, as it unveiled policy proposals on the question of imperial succession.