Daniel

Only 16 people remain in Japan's imperial family, and six are over 70 years old. Last week a law designed to prevent further such attrition took effect. The old regulations caused the problem. There were two ways to join the family: be born to a royal couple or marry into it by wedlock with a prince. The main way to leave was for a princess to marry a commoner, which nine have done since 1947. In addition, the boys ran dry. It was 41 years from the birth of Crown Prince Fumihito in 1965 to the birth of his son Hisahito in 2006. Today, five of the family's unmarried royals are female, and Hisahito, 20, is the only unmarried male. In 2021, a government committee studied the issue and determined that when Hisahito becomes emperor, he could be the last member of the family left, an outcome the committee said should be avoided "at all costs." The imperial family does more than serve as figureheads. In 2018, the junior houses alone carried out over 600 official duties, and when the Emperor travels abroad, another member of the imperial family must stand in for him on official duties. The new law makes two changes. One, princesses who get married will be allowed to keep their royal status instead of losing it. Two, the male descendants of the 11 collateral lines that were downgraded to commoner status in 1947 can be adopted into the imperial family (if they are at least 15 years old and have no spouse or children). Though both changes will allow more people to join the family, only one will add new heirs. The throne can be inherited only by men descended from an emperor in an unbroken male line. When a princess keeps her title, her husband and children remain commoners. But if an adopted man has a son, that son could become emperor. The problem is that no one knows who these men are. In August, the head of the Imperial Household Agency, which oversees the family's affairs, said his office still had to work out who would be eligible. A relative of one possible candidate told a magazine that the idea was "a dream of a dream," meaning it will never happen. So though the imperial family may grow, the survival of the throne will still depend on a single 20-year-old having a son, or on unknown men being willing to join the royal family and let their male offspring take over. Some 80% of Japanese say they would accept a female emperor. But the parliament passed a law that will let more princesses stay in the family but still none will succeed to the throne.