Japan’s Parliament Passes Law Allowing Emperor to Abdicate

TOKYO — Japan’s Parliament opened the door to modernizing the Chrysanthemum Throne on Friday, unanimously passing a special law allowing the ailing Emperor Akihito to retire, and proposing that the government consider letting the royal bloodline pass through the women of the imperial family.

At a time when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is promoting a political message of women’s empowerment, the rules of succession governing the world’s oldest monarchy do not permit women to be put in line for the throne.

But with public pressure mounting to allow women to reign, the shrinking size of the imperial household — and the dwindling number of male heirs — has pushed the question of the role of royal women to the forefront of the abdication debate.

Ever since Emperor Akihito, 83, announced his desire to abdicate on television last August, the Parliament has deliberated over whether to grant his request. With the passage of the special bill by the upper house on Friday, the stage is now set for the emperor to step down and pass the throne to his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito. The lower house passed the legislation last week.

According to the new law, which applies only to the current emperor, the government has three years to set a date for his exit. Akihito, who is hugely popular in Japan, will become the first emperor to abdicate in 200 years.

Japanese media has reported that the likely timing of the abdication will be around the emperor’s 85th birthday next year, in December.

When Crown Prince Naruhito, 57, ascends to the throne, he will follow a much beloved emperor who gently but insistently transformed the role he took over from his father, the wartime emperor Hirohito.

In 1989, Akihito succeeded Hirohito, once considered a deity in Japan and whose voice was only first heard by the Japanese people when he went on the radio to announce the country’s surrender at the end of World War II.

Emperor Akihito became enormously popular as he abandoned the aloof style of his father and sought to spend more time among the people. The Japanese revere him for his support of the pacifism enshrined in the nation’s postwar Constitution, and his role as the nation’s consoler in chief during natural disasters. Together with his wife, the Empress Michiko, he has traveled extensively, acting as an envoy of reconciliation with surrounding Asian countries that suffered during Japan’s wartime aggression.

His departure will highlight a brewing existential crisis for the family, which has just 19 living members. Furthermore, since the Imperial Household Law that governs succession only allows male members of the family to rule, there are now only three people in line to the throne — Naruhito; his younger brother, Prince Akishino, 51; and Prince Akishino’s son, Prince Hisahito, 10.

Opposition party lawmakers — and, according to surveys, a majority of the public — supported a more substantial overhaul of the household law that would not only permit future emperors to abdicate, but also make way for women to reign. But Mr. Abe’s governing Liberal Democratic Party would only consider the one-time allowance for Emperor Akihito’s departure.

The idea of women on the throne particularly inflames Mr. Abe’s most conservative supporters, who believe only men should reign.

“I am sure Abe has done the political calculation,” said Kenneth J. Ruoff, a history professor and the director of the Center for Japanese Studies at Portland State University in Oregon, “and decided it’s far better not to tick off the far right that feels intensely about this rather than cater to a largely passive majority that thinks that women should be allowed to sit on the throne.”

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But even conservative lawmakers have been forced to consider the reality of the imperial family’s dwindling numbers.

The recent announcement of the impending engagement of Princess Mako, 25, the emperor’s oldest granddaughter, focused attention on the flaws in the current law, which not only prohibits women from ruling, but also stipulates that succession pass only through the men of the royal family.

Because her fiancé is a commoner, Princess Mako will have to leave the imperial family once she marries Kei Komuro, 25, according to current law. If she bears a son, that child will not be in line to the throne.

An addendum to the law passed on Friday encourages the government to study the possibility of reforms that would allow the women of the royal family to remain within the imperial household — even if they marry commoners — and head legitimate lines of succession. Bowing to conservative pressure, the addendum makes no mention of any discussion to allow women to sit on the throne themselves.

“It’s so obvious that there are not enough imperial family members,” said Keiko Hongo, a professor of medieval history at the University of Tokyo. “We should accept the reality. That is an unavoidable issue to be discussed.”

Mr. Abe has not commented on the role of women in the imperial family, despite his oft-repeated political rhetoric about creating a society in which “women can shine.”

Mr. Ruoff said this inevitably made Mr. Abe appear hypocritical, but suggested that introducing the question of female bloodlines was a shrewd strategy.

“It seems to be an interesting pathway to say ‘guess what, there isn’t any other heir, so we have to pick someone from this female bloodline, and then once the male bloodline is broken anyway, what’s the big deal?’ ” Mr. Ruoff said. “It’s almost as if they are putting themselves in a position down the road for checkmate. I think a lot more thought has gone into this than might initially meet the eye.”

Japan has not always prohibited women on the throne, and it is now one of the few monarchies in the world that do not allow women to reign. According to Japanese myth, the emperor’s lineage goes back 2,700 years, and in the 125 generations that have been recorded since, eight women ruled when no adult men were eligible.

What’s more, said Kazuto Hongo, who is also a professor of medieval history at the University of Tokyo and is the husband of Keiko Hongo, Japanese mythology traces the imperial line back to the goddess Amaterasu.

“She was not only female, but also on the top of all the gods,” said Mr. Hongo. “If we do not allow a woman on the throne,” he added, “we will be punished by Amaterasu.”