TOKYO (AP) – The Japanese prince Hisahito is the first male royal royal to be an adult in 40 years. He could also be the last.
The extensive palace rituals to formally recognize Hisahito as an adult on Saturday are a memory of the gloomy view of the world's oldest monarchy. Much of this amounts to his only male follow-up policy and decreasing figures.
HisaHito is second in line for the Chrysanthemum throne and will probably someday be emperor one day. After him, however, no one is gone anymore, so that the imperial family leaves a dilemma about whether they should reverse a 19th century statement that abolished the female follow -up.
HisaHito is a university first -year student who loves Bugs
HisaHito, a first -year student at Tsukuba University in the Tokyo area, studies biology and likes to play badminton. He is mainly dedicated to dragonflies and has co-author of an academic article about an overview of the insects on the site of his Akasaka estate in Tokyo.
In his debut news conference in March, the prince said that he hopes to concentrate his studies on dragonflies and other insects, including ways to protect bug populations in urban areas.
Hisahito was born on September 6, 2006 and is the only son of Kroonprins Akishino, the heir of the throne, and his wife, Kroon princess Kiko. He has two older sisters, the popular Princess Kako and former Princess Mako, whose marriage to a nonroyal her demanded her royal status.
The coming-of-age rituals of Hisahito fall a year after he turned 18 and reached legal maturity because he wanted to concentrate on the entrance exams of the university.
He is perhaps the last emperor
HisaHito is the cousin of Emperor Naruhito, who has one child, a daughter, Princess Aiko. The father of Hisahito, Akishino, the younger brother of the emperor, was the last man who was an adult in the family in 1985.
HisaHito is the youngest of the 16-person all-adult imperial family. He and his father are the only two male heirs younger than Naruhito. Prince Hitachi, former Emperor Akihito's younger brother, is third in line to the throne but is already 89.
The shortage of male successors is a serious concern for the monarchy, of which historians say he lasted 1500 years. The issue reflects the rapidly aging and shrinking population of Japan.
Japan had traditional male emperors, but female follow -up was allowed. There have been eight female emperors, including the most recent Gosakuramachi who ruled from 1762 to 1770. None of them, however, produced an heir during their reign.
Succession was legally limited to men by the pre -war constitution for the first time in 1889. The post -war Imperial House Law, which largely retains conservative pre -war values, also allows male follow -up.
But experts say that the only-all follow-up of the man is structurally defective and only previously worked thanks to the help of concubines that produced imperial children until about 100 years ago.
Highly popular Princess Aiko, the only daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, cannot be the successor of her father, although she is supported by a large part of the audience as a future monarch.
A follow -up debate is raging
To tackle follow -up problems, the government has compiled a proposal to allow a female emperor in 2005. But the birth of Hisahito quickly changed the tide and nationalists could turn against the proposal.
A separate, largely conservative panel of experts in January 2022 ordered to call on the government to maintain its male follow -up, while female members can retain their royal status after marriage and continue their official tasks. The conservatives also suggested accepting male descendants of the distant royal families that have now been destroyed to continue the male origin.
But the debate got stuck on whether they should give the royal status to nonroyals who marry princesses and their children.
The stuck debate has forced Hisahito to bear the burden of the fate of the imperial family itself, said former Imperial Household Agency Chief Shingo Haska earlier this year in a Yomiuri newspaper article. “The fundamental question is not to allow male or female follow -up line, but how to save the monarchy.”
The conservative Yomiuri issued its own proposal in May, calling for an urgent revision of the Imperial House Act to give the Royal Status to men and children of princesses and women to succeed. It called on the parliament to “draw a responsible conclusion about the crisis around the state and the symbol of the unity of the people.”
Crown, Horse-Carri Age and D Biders
Saturday's ritual before Hisahito started in his family home, appearing in a tuxedo to receive a crown delivered by a Naruhito messenger.
In an important ritual in the imperial palace, attended by other royal members and top government officials, he wore traditional clothing with a beige colored cloak that symbolized his pre-adolls status. His headcover was replaced by the crown, a black mature “kanmuri” headpiece, which formalized his coming of age. HisaHito bowed deeply and thanked the emperor in front of the crown and his parents for organizing the ceremony and promised to fulfill his responsibility as a royal member.
The crowned prince then turned into adult clothing with black top and drove into a royal horse carriage to pray at the three shrines in the palace complex.
In the afternoon Hisahito will put his tuxedo back to visit the imperial palace to greet Naruhito and Empress Masako in the prestigious Matsu-No-MA or Pine Room. In another ritual he must receive a medal, the great cordon of the highest order of the Chrysanthemum, in a post -war tradition. He will also greet his grandparents, Akihito and his wife, former Empress Michiko, in their palace.
In the evening, Akishino and Kiko organize a private celebration for their son in a Tokyo hotel where their family members will gather.
The rituals also include his visits to Ise, Japan's Top Shinto sanctuary, the mausoleum of the mythical first emperor Jinmu in Nara early next week, as well as those of his deceased great-grandfather, war health, in wartime, in the outskirts of Tokyo. He will also have lunch with Premier Shigeru Ishiba and other dignitaries Wednesday.
