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DPJ leader backs female monarchs, tolerates female-line succession+
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, Jan. 15_(Kyodo) _ Opposition leader Seiji Maehara said Sunday he supports the idea of allowing females and their descendants to ascend Japan's imperial throne.
During his appearance on a TV Asahi news program, the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan also said he will accept enabling the child of a female monarch to reign, unless the public accepts a concubine system for emperors.
"I am for female emperors...I also have no choice but to allow emperors of female lineage if the public says no to concubines for the emperor system," Maehara said.
The government is likely to present an amendment to the Imperial House Law to the Diet in early March that would authorize females and their descendants to ascend the throne.
The revision comes on the heels of a proposal offered by an advisory panel last November and would cause a reshuffle of the line of succession.
Crown Prince Naruhito, 45, Emperor Akihito's first son, remains the heir to the throne. But under the revised law, 4-year-old Princess Aiko, the crown prince's only child, would become second in line, replacing Prince Akishino, the crown prince's 40-year-old brother, who would be the third in line.
The Imperial House Law, enacted in 1947, allows only males who have emperors on their father's side to ascend the throne. But no male has been born to Japan's royal family since 1965, creating the likelihood of a succession crisis.
The revision would also pave the way for a child of Princess Aiko to succeed her, making the child the first-ever Japanese monarch whose mother had occupied the imperial throne.
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