25 'Koizumi children' against gov't plan to revise imperial law

Japan Policy & Politics, Feb 6, 2006

TOKYO, Feb. 2 Kyodo

Twenty-five Liberal Democratic Party members newly elected in last year's House of Representatives election decided Thursday to call for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, also head of the ruling party, not to submit a bill to allow females and their descendants to ascend Japan's imperial throne.

''We are assembly members chosen under (party) President Koizumi and will support Mr. Koizumi's Cabinet...(but) submitting the bill for revision does not have to be done during the current Diet session,'' Masaaki Akaike, one of the so-called 82 ''Koizumi children,'' told reporters.

The group, which gathered to study the issue with members interested, plans to call for all the other ''children'' to sign a petition against submitting the bill and present it to Koizumi and LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe.

Koizumi, however, stressed to reporters on the same day the necessity of having the bill passed during the ongoing session, saying, it is better to ''hurry for a stable imperial succession.''

''I don't think it is good to (discuss the matter) too long,'' he added and reiterated that the party will require all member lawmakers to vote for the bill.

The revision of the 1947 Imperial House Law, which limits ascension to the throne to only males who have emperors on their fathers' side, is aimed at avoiding a possible imperial succession crisis as no male heir has been born in Japan's imperial family since 1965.

But conservative politicians and academics have voiced opposition to the planned revision, saying that allowing a child of a female monarch will put an end to the unbroken imperial line which they say has been preserved for more than 2,000 years by passing down the throne only to male-line heirs.

Opinions to take a cautious approach on the issue were also heard in other general meetings of LDP factions.

In a meeting of a faction led by Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, a faction member said the issue is ''different from structural reforms and is impossible to easily summarize,'' and similar opinions followed.

Former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said at a faction meeting, ''Discussion over the revision hasn't ripened and there is no reason to hurry. We should take time.''

Some LDP members, however, asked that a ''calm stance'' be taken over the issue.

Taku Yamasaki, a former LDP vice president leading a faction, said, ''I would like to summarize opinions in the faction so that public opinion will not be divided or confused.''

Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who leads a faction of Koizumi's origin, told his members to ''act without forgetting your stance,'' considering the fact that the Koizumi-led government is planning the revision.

Meanwhile, opinions among the LDP leadership are apparently not unified, with LDP General Council Chairman Fumio Kyuma reiterating to reporters on Thursday that the revision issue should proceed ''cautiously.''