Japan Imperial Household law to permit adoption from cadet branch

Support Asia Times Keep independent journalism alive Support us Emperor Naruhito of Japan, his wife Empress Masako, and their daughter Princess Aiko visit a bonsai exhibition held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo: Facebook Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi won a legislative victory on Friday with the passage of a revision to the Imperial Household Law, but she faced significant criticism for her management of the Diet as the ruling parties voted to extend the legislative session from Friday until July 25 to faciliate debate on the ruling coalition’s auxiliary capital bill. On Friday, 17 July the House of Councillors passed a revision to the Imperial Household Law to bolster the size of the Imperial Household.

The bill enables the adoption of the male children – at least 15 years old and without wife or child – of former cadet branches removed from the household in 1947. It allows female royals to remain part of the Imperial Household after marriage, although only the male children of the former may be included in the line of succession. The bill formally only addresses the issue of the number of members of the Imperial Household, ensuring that there are enough members of the household to perform its duties as members age and daughters have married and left the household.

The question of bolstering the imperial line of succession has been left for additional discussions. However, the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) argued that by specifying that the sons of adoptees from the former cadet branches can be in the line of succession, the government broke from the consensus agreement and smuggled provisions regarding the line of succession into the bill. The emphasis on the former cadet branches reflects an approach preferred by conservatives, who have also wanted to make this change as part of the process of unwinding the US Occupation’s reforms.

As such, the bill passed only by a 184-57 margin in the upper house. Nevertheless, the prime minister described the bill’s passage after many years of trying as “deeply moving.” While the bill’s passage ensured that the government accomplished one of its highest priorities for the legislative session, the ruling parties also voted on Friday to extend the legislative session, which had been scheduled to close on Friday, by eight days until July 25.

The extension is intended to give the Diet more time to debate and vote on the LDP-Ishin no Kai bill to designate Osaka as the country’s auxiliary capital – though the expectation is that, since the ruling parties have not lined up enough support in the upper house, the bill’s passage will likely depend on the lower house voting again to override the upper house’s rejection. CDP lawmaker Renhō addresses members of the Takaichi cabinet in the upper house budget committee on Friday, 17 July. Photo: CDP The vote to extend the session capped off a dramatic day in the legislature that included both the vote on the Imperial Household Law revision and the extension; criticism of Takaichi’s handling of the Diet, including Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya implying he would support a no-confidence motion; a testy hearing of the upper house’s budget committee in which Takaichi faced similar questions as in Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions and largely gave the same answers; and an agreement between the LDP and the Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA) to hold a three-hour intensive session of the lower house budget committee on Friday, July 24 with Takaichi in attendance.

In general, the atmosphere in the Diet was fraught, with even LDP lawmakers voicing frustration at the prime minister’s attitude towards the Diet; many in the LDP had not wanted the extension and suggested that if Takaichi had been more willing to work with the opposition earlier, there would have been no pause in parliamentary business and no extension would have been necessary. Originally published on Tobias Harris’s Observing Japan newsletter, this article is republished with permission. Share on X (Opens in new window) X Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Print (Opens in new window) Print Leave a comment Cancel replyYou must be logged in to post a comment.

Emperor Naruhito of Japan, his wife Empress Masako, and their daughter Princess Aiko visit a bonsai exhibition held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo: Facebook Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi won a legislative victory on Friday with the passage of a revision to the Imperial Household Law, but she faced significant criticism for her management of the Diet as the ruling parties voted to extend the legislative session from Friday until July 25 to faciliate debate on the ruling coalition’s auxiliary capital bill. On Friday, 17 July the House of Councillors passed a revision to the Imperial H