House Speaker Nukaga Pushes for Swift Action on Imperial Family Reform Measures

The Need for Swift Action on Imperial Family Reform

House of Representatives Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga emphasized the urgency of finalizing measures to address the shrinking size of the imperial family during the current parliamentary session, which concludes in June. He expressed this desire at a meeting with leaders and vice leaders of both chambers of the Diet, representing both ruling and opposition parties, to resume discussions on imperial family reform measures.

allowing female members to retain their imperial status even after marrying commoners, and adopting male members from the paternal line of former imperial family branches to grant them royal status. He hopes that the discussions will focus on these two options.

However, reaching an agreement among the parties remains uncertain due to persisting differences in their views. An interim report released in September 2022 by the Lower House speaker and the Upper House president concluded that there is a "general consensus" on maintaining the imperial family status of female members after marriage. However, opinions diverge on whether to extend this status to their spouses and children. Regarding the treatment of members of former imperial family branches, the report merely acknowledged the existence of both pros and cons.

The discussions between the ruling and opposition parties commenced in May 2022. They plan to convene multiple times in February and March 2023 for further deliberations.