A total of 90 percent of respondents in a recent Kyodo News poll said they would support the idea of a reigning empress as Japan's imperial family struggles with a shrinking number of male heirs.
The results of the mail survey, conducted in March and April ahead of the fifth anniversary of Emperor Naruhito's ascension to the throne, demonstrate how the majority of the public approves of expanding the right to rule to women, given imperial succession is currently limited to men from the paternal line.
In the survey, 72 percent of respondents said they felt a "sense of crisis" regarding the stability of imperial succession.
The 1947 Imperial House Law limits heirs to a male with an emperor on his father's side and stipulates that female royals leave the imperial family upon marrying a commoner.
But Emperor Naruhito, 64, has only three heirs -- his brother, Crown Prince Fumihito, 58, his nephew Prince Hisahito, 17, and his uncle Prince Hitachi, 88. The emperor and Empress Masako have one daughter, 22-year-old Princess Aiko.
In 2021, a government panel tasked with studying ways to ensure stable imperial succession shelved a decision on whether to make women or matrilineal members eligible to ascend the throne.
A total of 52 percent of respondents said they agreed with the postponement, while 46 percent said they disagreed.
Regarding discussions on succession, 35 percent said the conversation should start as soon as possible. Another 26 percent said the issue should be deliberated carefully into the future, and 19 percent believe it should be held while monitoring the situation surrounding Prince Hisahito.
Half of the respondents who supported the idea of a reigning empress stated that gender differences were not important concerning the role. Meanwhile, the most common reason for disapproving of the idea, cited by 45 percent of those against the concept, was the belief that male succession was culturally appropriate.
There have been female monarchs in other countries, such as the late Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who abdicated in January of this year.
A total of 84 percent said they supported or somewhat supported the idea of an emperor descending from the maternal line.
While Japan has had eight reigning empresses from a patrilineal line, with the last occupying the throne in the 18th century, there has never been a single emperor from a matrilineal line among the 126 emperors in history.
Meanwhile, 74 percent said they were against or somewhat against reintroducing male members from the former houses of the Imperial Family that were stripped of membership shortly after World War II, an idea that has been floated as a means to maintain succession by a male on the paternal line.
The government has established advisory panels to solicit views from experts over the years on the issue of imperial succession.
However, talks of a female emperor have stalled despite widespread public approval as the Japanese government and the society are male-centered, according to former Supreme Court Justice Itsuo Sonobe, who headed the panel under the administration of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Sonobe also cited people's disinterest in the imperial system as a reason for the lack of momentum in the discussions, saying even among people who had shown interest, it was difficult to surmise how deeply they thought about the imperial family, its purpose or its relation to the public.
The survey showed 67 percent of respondents were somewhat or very interested in the imperial family, down 8 percentage points from the previous survey in 2020.
Regarding online criticism and slanderous comments directed at imperial family members, 86 percent said they infringed on their dignity.
Last year, the Imperial Household Agency established a formal press relations office to revamp its public outreach and looked at using social media as a communications tool. It opened an official Instagram account on April 1.
The move came after the agency struggled with critical, often slanderous, online reactions to former princess Mako's engagement and 2021 marriage to her university sweetheart, Kei Komuro.
The latest Kyodo survey targeted 3,000 people aged 18 and older across the country, of which 1,966 gave valid responses. The response rate was 65.5 percent.
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