Japan's parliament passed a revision to the Imperial Household Law on Thursday, enacting reforms that allow the imperial family to adopt male descendants from former branch families and let princesses retain their royal status after marrying commoners.
The upper house approved the bill with majority backing from the ruling coalition and several opposition parties, a day after a special committee cleared it. The legislation permits adoption of unmarried men over 15 from 11 former aristocratic families who left the imperial household in 1947, though the adopted men themselves would not gain succession rights — only their future sons would.
The Constitutional Democratic Party opposed the measure and proposed removing the adoption provisions, but its amendment was defeated. The reform leaves unchanged the ban on women ascending the throne, despite polls showing around 70 percent of Japanese support a female emperor. The succession line remains limited to three males: Crown Prince Fumihito, his son Hisahito, and the emperor's 90-year-old uncle.