Japan panel wants princesses to stay royal-paper
Posted on: Saturday, 19 November 2005, 22:17 CST
TOKYO (Reuters) - Days after Japan's Princess Sayako married a commoner and gave up her privileges as a member of the imperial family, an advisory panel said it would recommend princesses stay royal in future, a newspaper reported on Sunday.
When Sayako married Tokyo bureaucrat Yoshiki Kuroda in a low-key hotel ceremony on Tuesday, she gave up her imperial status and allowance to become a commoner, as dictated by the 1947 Imperial Household Law.
But an advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on solving a looming imperial succession crisis said it would recommend sisters, daughters and granddaughters of an emperor retain their status even after marriage, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.
More distant relatives of the emperor, such as nieces, would be allowed to leave the imperial household after the age of 15, if they wished to do so, the paper said.
Only men are at /present allowed to succeed to Japan's Chrysanthemum throne, but no boys have been born into the family since 1965.
Emperor Akihito has two sons, but both of them have only female children. His only daughter, Sayako, is now a commoner, so her offspring will not be in line for the throne.
The panel, which is to file a final report later this month, has already said it will recommend allowing women the same rights as men to take the throne and pass it on to their children.
Koizumi has said he hopes to enact a change in the law next year, which could lead to Akihito's three-year-old granddaughter, Princess Aiko, one day becoming Japan's first reigning empress since the 18th century.
Public opinion polls have shown most Japanese support this idea, but opposition has been voiced by conservatives, including Akiihito's cousin, Prince Tomohito, who want to preserve the male-only line of succession.
The paper did not mention whether Sayako could be invited to rejoin the imperial household after a change in the law.
Source: REUTERS
Related Articles
- FDA Panel Recommends New Cervical Cancer Vaccine
- AlphaDetail AlphaPulse(TM): Most Practicing Physicians React Positively to FDA Panel's Recommendation for Additional Cardiovascular Safety Trials for New Diabetes Medications.
- Gov't Panel Recommends Shingles Vaccine
- Cancer Vaccine Advances to FDA: Advisory Panel Recommends Approval of Shots for HPV, Cause of Cervical Cancer
- FDA Panel Recommends Approval for Cervical Cancer Vaccine
- FDA Panel Recommends Against Treating ADHD With Modafinil
- Panel Recommends Universal Rotavirus Shots
- Bipartisan panel recommends U.S. election changes
- CDC Panel Recommends Whooping Cough Shots
- Panel Recommends Against Smallpox Shots
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds