Japan Amends Imperial House Law for First Time Since 1947 to Address Royal Succession Crisis
On July 17, 2026, the House of Councillors passed and enacted the revised Imperial House Law, aimed at securing a stable number of Imperial family members. Since its enforcement in 1947, this marks the first time the law's main provisions have undergone a substantive amendment. With this revision, debates over imperial succession and the role of the Imperial family have entered a new phase. The two major pillars of this amendment are as follows. First, female members of the Imperial family are now permitted to retain their imperial status even after marriage—an option previously unavailable to them. While this expands the choices for female members, they still retain the option to leave the Imperial family upon marriage if they wish. Second, the law now allows the adoption of male descendants in the male line from the 11 former princely branches (known as kyu-miyake ) into the Imperial family. Furthermore, a new system has been established to grant future imperial succession rights...