Japan's lower house passed a bill on Friday aimed at easing a looming imperial succession crisis as the monarchy shrinks, with just one young heir under a male-only succession rule.
The future of the imperial household currently hinges on Prince Hisahito, Emperor Naruhito's 19-year-old nephew, and the centuries-old succession would be broken if he does not have a male child.
Japan's Imperial Household Law, in place since 1947, does not allow women to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne.
The bill passed on Friday would revise that law, allowing the imperial family to adopt male distant relatives over 15 and letting women keep their royal status even after marrying someone outside the family.
But it does not address the possibility of a woman emperor, an idea that has wide public support.
That means 24-year-old Princess Aiko, the emperor's only child, remains barred from the throne.
Seiichiro Murakami, a veteran of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said on Tuesday it was "utterly outrageous" to rule out the possibility of Aiko as emperor.
Critics also argued that distant relatives may not want to join the family.
Former imperial family member Asahiro Kuni, 81, said it would be unrealistic to adopt distant male relatives, adding he would advise his grandchildren to refuse such a proposal.
Kuni is a member of one of the 11 imperial branch families that left the imperial register after World War II.
"By the age of 15, a person has grown up breathing the air of freedom," Kuni told the Asahi Shimbun daily.
"I think it would be difficult to adapt to life in the imperial family."
"There might be people who want to join the imperial family, but if they understood the hardships of life as a royal member, they probably wouldn't say such a thing," Kuni added.
The top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun daily, usually a vocal supporter of the LDP, also criticised the government in an editorial.
The imperial family now has 16 members in total, including five men -- retired emperor Akihito, who is 92, his 90-year-old brother, the 66-year-old emperor, his brother, and Prince Hisahito.
An Asahi Shimbun poll in May showed 72 percent of respondents in favour of changing the rules to allow women to ascend the throne.
The bill has cleared the lower house, where the LDP holds a majority, and will be debated at the upper house next week.
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© Agence France-Presse
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