CDP Proposes Council Decide Imperial Family Status

   Tokyo, May 16 (Jiji Press)--Yoshihiko Noda, head of the leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, has proposed that the Imperial House Council decide whether to allow husbands and sons of women who will stay in the Imperial Family after marriage to be part of the family.
   According to people familiar with the matter, Noda presented the idea in a paper at a meeting on April 24 with Fukushiro Nukaga, speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Japan's parliament, Koichiro Genba, Lower House vice speaker, and Aso Taro, supreme adviser to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
   The meeting was held to sort out and conclude discussions among ruling and opposition parties on two options shown by a government expert panel for preventing the number of the Imperial Family members from dropping further.
   The parties broadly concur with the option of allowing female Imperial Family members to remain in the family even after marriage. But when it comes to the status of their spouses and sons, opinions vary.
   The "Noda paper" calls for leaving a decision on the status matter to the Imperial House Council, composed of representatives from the family and leaders of the administrative, judicial and legislative branches as well as the Imperial Household Agency chief.

(2025/05/16-18:47)

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