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 ...

New legislation aims to address the shrinking ranks of Japan's imperial family, while preserving male-only succession despite broad support for a female emperor.

Japan's imperial family faces a succession dilemma as debates intensify over reforming male-only inheritance laws. Public support for change grows, challenging traditionalists and shaping the monarchy ...

Japan’s parliament tweaked the imperial succession law on Friday but maintained the bar on women emperors – despite surveys suggesting wide public ...

Royal watchers and experts fear the new measures could doom the 1,500-year-old hereditary institution by insisting that only men can be emperor, sparking worry about the fast-aging imperial family.

The Japan Imperial Family continues to shrink; as of this writing, it only has 16 members. Yet, a new law passed in July 2026 is attempting to reverse this trend: Now, women in the family will not ...

On the outside, a sophomore at the University of Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture appears to maintain a rather ordinary student ...

FILE - Japan's Princess Aiko, left, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, arrives to mark the 110th anniversary of the death of the wife of former emperor Meiji at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo ...

The Independent and Yahoo will earn a commission from purchases made via links in this article. Pricing and availability are subject to change. Japan’s parliament has passed a bill relaxing its ...