Hisahito turns 20 as Japan doubles down on male-only succession — SkimNews
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- Prince Hisahito turned 20 on Sunday, becoming second in line to Japan's 1,500-year-old Chrysanthemum Throne as the youngest of 16 members of the rapidly shrinking imperial family.
- Japan's Parliament enacted a revised Imperial House Law in July that lifts the ban on adopting male offspring from distant former royal families while letting female royals keep their status after marrying commoners, though their partners and offspring will not be royals.
- Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi backed the revisions, which critics labeled anachronistic and sexist and protesters said are designed to sideline Emperor Naruhito's daughter, Princess Aiko.
- Princess Aiko, 24, remains ineligible under the male-only rules despite being the preferred successor of most Japanese, while experts warn the new framework will place enormous pressure on Hisahito and his eventual wife to bear a male child.
- Hisahito, a biology sophomore at the University of Tsukuba, has begun taking on official duties including a May palace banquet for Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and a visit to pray for atomic-bomb victims in Hiroshima.
- At his debut news conference last year, Hisahito said he hasn't thought about marriage timing or a partner, focusing on studies and expressing hopes to spend time overseas.
Why it matters: The revised Imperial House Law entrenches male-only succession despite majority Japanese support for Princess Aiko, and experts flagged it shifts enormous pressure to produce a male heir onto Hisahito and his future wife as the 16-member imperial family keeps aging and shrinking.
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