Japan revises law on royals, keeps blocking women from throne
Japan's parliament has passed legislation to address the shrinking imperial family, but the law continues to bar women from inheriting the throne. Critics argue the move is a deliberate attempt to maintain male-only succession.
Why it matters
Highlights the tension between traditional monarchical structures and modern gender equality in a major global power.
Japan's upper house of parliament has voted to pass controversial revisions to a law governing who can inherit the throne in the world's oldest continuous hereditary monarchy, just days after the lower house of parliament voted it through.
The revision's stated aim is to secure the number of imperial family members, and maintain their public duties and activities, as the family's ranks dwindle and age.
But to critics, the revision has another "very clear objective: to prevent the future emergence of a female emperor," says Seiichiro Noboru, a former Japanese diplomat with ties to the imperial family.
Public support and the political stability of Japan's constitutional monarchy matter, as the country casts off post-war restraints on its military, and portrays itself as a reliable defender of a rules-based international order .
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