On last Sunday, June 8, HIH Prince Katsura passed away in hospital, in Tokyo, at the age of 66. Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress recently attended his funeral. The Prince was a cousin of HM the Emperor and with his passing this leaves only 21 members of the Imperial Family since the post-war constitution restricted membership considerably from what it had been in the Empire of Japan. After HIH Princess Noriko renounces her status to marry a commoner there will be only seven unmarried female members of the Imperial Family and only five male members who are in line for the throne. Recently, some ceremonies formerly closed to women of the Imperial Family have been opened to them, such as Oharai no Gi, because there are so few members of the Imperial Family left. The previous leftist government was talking about making changes, at least to the succession law, but the more conservative Abe government has been stood firm on the side of tradition when it comes to the monarchy. I would support the government in maintaining the rules of succession in so far as male preference is concerned as only this can ensure the preservation of the true imperial line (otherwise the husband of an Empress would be starting his own dynasty instead of the original Japanese Imperial Family). However, some changes may be necessary though they will not be easy such as restoring those members of the Imperial Family to their rightful status which they lost with the post-war occupation. That was an injustice that never should have happened in the first place. It would also help if the current members had more children. That, however, is an example of something I have talked about here before; royals are not immune from the societies that surround them whether in Europe or in Japan and it is, I think, no coincidence that both the Imperial Family and Japan as a whole are suffering from a demographic problem. Having more children should be a priority for everyone.
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