Japan's parliament has amended the Imperial Household Law to address the shortage of heirs. Male descendants of former noble branches can now be adopted. Princess Aiko remains excluded.

TOKYO, 4th August, 2026 (WAM) -- At the invitation of His Majesty Emperor Naruhito of Japan, Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability Affairs, led UAE ...

Japan may have its first ever female prime minister, but her government’s attempts to avoid a royal succession crisis are making the chances of a woman taking the imperial throne ever slimmer. With ...

A new law passed in Japan in July 2026 is updating the line of succession: It allows the royals to adopt distant male relatives over the age of 15, and lets women keep their royal ...

As the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II approaches, only a few veterans of Japan’s brutal war remain. “Never die for Emperor or country,” one advised. By Martin Fackler and Ko Sasaki Her ...

A popular princess drives support for having a female Japanese Emperor. But the country's first female prime minister opposes it.

The Japanese Imperial Family has only sixteen current members.

Japan’s parliament has enacted a historic revision to the 19th-century Imperial House Law by insisting only paternal-lineage men can become emperor.

Japan’s Parliament voted Friday to enshrine male-only succession for the imperial throne, part of a monarchy that traces its origins back roughly 1,500 years. Lawmakers did so by revising an Imperial ...

The new bill also allows the adoption of male distant relatives aged over 15 back into the imperial family.

There are only three people in line to inherit Japan's Chrysanthemum Throne, and one of them is 90 years old. All three of ...