TOKYO: A senior lawmaker from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) said Sunday (June 28) that Princess Aiko (pic) cannot become emperor under Japan's current succession law, adding that no one would want to marry her if she did, Kyodo News reported.
Hirofumi Nakasone, 80, a former foreign minister who heads the LDP's constitutional reform headquarters, made the remarks during a speech in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, as lawmakers continue debating how to address the shrinking imperial family.
Referring to the 24-year-old princess, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, Nakasone said her accession would be "out of the question" under the current Imperial House Law.
He added that if she became emperor while unmarried, "there would be no one willing to marry her," citing the pressure a prospective husband would face.
The son of former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone also said she would face "tremendous pressure" to produce a male heir.
Japan's 1947 Imperial House Law limits succession to male descendants in the paternal line, leaving the princess ineligible despite being the emperor's only child.
The issue has drawn growing scrutiny as the imperial family has dwindled to a small number of male members.
Public opinion polls show strong support for allowing a female emperor, but the conservative LDP has been cautious about the idea.
"It is not a popularity vote," Nakasone said. "This is about who will inherit the throne of the nation's emperor, and we must discuss it calmly based on the law."
He added that the public must first understand the legal framework, warning that otherwise "the debate could go in the wrong direction."
Known as the world's oldest hereditary monarchy, the Japanese imperial family has narrowly escaped a potential succession crisis, with Prince Hisahito's birth in 2006 being the first of a male imperial family member since 1965, when his father Crown Prince Fumihito was born. - Bernama-Kyodo
