Japan prince fights against female succession

      A cousin of the Japanese emperor has stepped up his criticism of plans to allow women to succeed the throne in an article to be published in a magazine this week, Kyodo news agency said on yesterday.

Japanese Princess Aiko, center, waves from a car window , with her parents Crown Prince Naruhito, left, and Crown Princess Masako as they visit the Emperor and the Empress at the Imperial Palace, in Tokyo on her birthday December 1, 2005. [AP]
    Prince Tomohito of Mikasa criticises a government advisory panel on imperial succession for rushing to put forward plans to allow female monarchs, saying there is no need to make an immediate decision, Kyodo said.

    The panel put forward the proposal in a bid to avert an impending succession crisis in the imperial household, where no boys have been born for 40 years.

    Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has said he wants to present a bill enacting the changes to parliament this year.

    Emperor Akihito's son, Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife Crown Prince Masako have a four-year-old daughter, but have produced no male offspring since their marriage in 1993.

    Under current laws, women are not allowed to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne, one of the world's oldest monarchies, although females have occupied the throne in the distant past.

    Tomohito, who is fifth in line for succession to the throne, suggests in an article in the February edition of Bungei Shunju magazine that the panel should look into alternatives such as reinstating the abolished branches of the imperial family.

    The article entitled "Weight of the emperor's blood why I am opposed to a female-line emperor," follows a similar opinion piece published last year in a private newsletter, circulated among members of a welfare foundation Tomohito heads.

    The prince risks criticism by publishing the piece, after the Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Shingo Haketa warned last year that imperial family members should avoid expressing opinions on the succession issue, Kyodo said.

    A change in the law might allow Emperor Akihito's granddaughter to become the first woman on the throne since the eighteenth century.

    It may also come as a relief for her mother. Masako, 42, has recently begun returning to public duties after suffering from a mental disorder royal watchers said was probably due in part to pressure to produce a male heir.

    Public opinion polls have shown that most Japanese support the idea of women on the throne, but the proposals have been opposed by some conservative scholars. Enditem

(Source: China Daily)