The opposition Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA) decided on Tuesday to accept two proposals by a government expert panel to ensure a sufficient number of imperial family members, paving the way for full-scale parliamentary talks on revising the Imperial House Law.
At its board meeting, the party determined that the preferable option is a proposal to allow female imperial family members to retain their status after marriage.
The other proposal would allow male members in the paternal line of 11 former imperial family branches that left the family in 1947 to be adopted back into the family, on the condition that the adoption system is carefully designed.
Meanwhile, the CRA postponed taking a position on whether the husbands and children of female imperial family members should be given imperial family status.
On Thursday, a CRA panel reached broad agreement to support the female member proposal and tolerate the adoption proposal, but party heavyweight Yukio Edano voiced opposition, prompting the panel to leave its final decision on the adoption proposal to panel chief Hirofumi Ryu.
Following the ultimate decision to accept the proposals on Tuesday, Ryu told reporters: ※The real discussions will start now. We will work with a sense of urgency so that our views can be reflected (in the planned law revision).§
Both chambers of parliament are now slated to resume discussions on the issue on Friday.
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