Fate of Japan's imperial dynasty rests on shoulders of 13-year-old

Record ID: 1437414

  • Title: Fate of Japan's imperial dynasty rests on shoulders of 13-year-old
  • Date: 18th October 2019
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - SEPTEMBER 6, 2006) (REUTERS) JAPANESE CROWN PRINCE AKISHINO, AND PRINCESS, KIKO, WITH HER FIRST MALE CHILD, PRINCE, HISAHITO, WALKING FROM HOSPITAL HISAHITO IN THE ARMS OF KIKO
  • Embargoed: 1st November 2019 02:16
  • Keywords: Japan emperor Naruhito enthronement prince Akishino Chrysanthemum Throne constitution heir Hisahito
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN/PUNAKHA AND UNKNOWN LOCATION, BHUTAN
  • City: TOKYO, JAPAN/PUNAKHA AND UNKNOWN LOCATION, BHUTAN
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B1MGND3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: When Japanese Prince Hisahito visited Bhutan in August on his first overseas trip just months after his uncle Emperor Naruhito ascended the ancient Chrysanthemum Throne, media treated the event as the debut of a future monarch.
    Footage of Hisahito riding horses with his hosts and feeding cows with his parents were rare exposure for the young prince, on whose shoulders the future of the monarchy rests, under a current males-only succession law.
    Changes to the law are anathema to conservatives backing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
    Emperor Naruhito, who became emperor on May 1 after his father Akihito abdicated, will proclaim his enthronement in a ceremony on Oct. 22, before foreign and domestic dignitaries.
    Hisahito, 13, is second in line to the throne after his father Crown Prince Akishino, 53, the younger brother of 59-year-old Emperor Naruhito. There are no other royal males in Hisahito's generation.
    "Under the current rules of succession, Prince Hisahito ... will eventually bear the entire burden of perpetuating the imperial family," an editorial in Asahi newspaper read earlier this year. "The pressure this prince would eventually come under is too formidable to contemplate."
    Hisahito's birth in 2006 was seen as a miracle by conservatives eager to preserve the males-only succession.
    No imperial males had been born since 1965 and after eight years of marriage, Naruhito's wife Masako had given birth to a girl, Princess Aiko, prompting moves to revise the succession law, to allow women to inherit and pass on the throne.
    Plans to change the law were scrapped after Hisahito was born.
    Now, some experts and media are wondering whether Hisahito is being properly groomed for his future role.
    Under the post-war constitution, Japan's emperor has no political authority and is designated as the "symbol of the State and of the unity of the people".
    "It is important to have him realise that he is in a position to inherit the throne when interacting with people, and to keep them in mind, from an early age," said Hidehiko Kasahara, a political science professor at Keio University.
    Unlike his grandfather Emperor Akihito, who carved out an active role as a symbol of peace, democracy and reconciliation with victims of Japan's World War Two aggression, Hisahito has no special mentor to help him prepare for his future kingship.
    When parliament passed a special law allowing Akihito to abdicate in 2017, it adopted a non-binding resolution asking the government to consider how to ensure a stable succession.
    One option is to allow females, including Aiko and Hisahito's two elder sisters, to remain in the imperial family after marriage and inherit or pass on the throne to their children - a change surveys show most ordinary Japanese favour.
    Retiree, Hiromi Kosaka said "In this present time, we do not have to think about gender. We have had a female emperor in the history of Japan. So I think it is natural."
    Firefighter, Yuta Oshikawa said "I don't want to see arguments regarding the emperor. If we have a female emperor, I hope everyone can agree."
    Abe, though, is unlikely to want to open controversial discussions. "They want to put off debate as much as possible," Kasahara said.
    Some Japanese people agree. Nurse, Fumie Hiraoka thinks Princess Aiko can't bear the opposing opinions on having a female Emperor. She said "I think it is better to keep the custom and let the throne be inherited to only males".
    (Production: Kwiyeon Ha, Akira Tomoshige, Hideto Sakai, Akiko Okamoto)
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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