Imperial Household Law - Draft and Intent

Draft and Intent

Drafted by the government of Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru during the American occupation, the 1947 statute sought to bring the legislation governing the Imperial Household into compliance with the American-written Constitution.

The law had the effect of dramatically restricting membership in the imperial family to the Emperor Hirohito's immediate family, his widowed mother, and the families of his three brothers. It abolished the collateral lines of the imperial family, the shinnoke and the oke, which had traditionally a pool of potential successors to the throne if the main imperial family failed to produce an heir. The fifty-one members of the eleven cadet branches renounced their Imperial status; and they were formally removed from the imperial household register and become ordinary citizens on October 14, 1947.

The new law retained the principle of agnatic succession enshrined in the 1889 law and Prussian-influenced constitution during the 19th century Meiji Restoration. The new law further restricted the succession to legitimate-born sons, grandsons, and male line descendants of an emperor. Previously, an emperor's sons and grandsons born by concubines and their male line descendants could succeed to the throne. Although Imperial chronologies include eight reigning empresses in the course of Japanese history, their successors were most often selected from amongst the males of the paternal Imperial bloodline, which is why some conservative scholars argue that the women's reigns were temporary and that male-only succession tradition must be maintained in the 21st century. Empress Gemmei (661-721), who was followed on the throne by her daughter, Empress Genshō (680-748), remains the sole exception to this conventional argument.

In addition, the law contained numerous mechanisms to regulate the future size of the imperial family, and thus the financial burden on the state.

The chapters of the Imperial Household Law address the following:

1. The order of succession to the throne;
2. The establishment of a regency should the emperor be a minor or suffer from a serious ailment
3. The membership of the imperial family
4. The composition of the Imperial Household Council
5. The titles and styles held by the emperor and members of the imperial family
6. The marriages of the emperor, the crown prince, and the princes of the blood; and,
7. The rites for imperial funerals, imperial mausoleua, and the maintenance of the imperial family registry.

Chapter 1: Article 1 of the Imperial Household Law states: "The Imperial Throne of Japan shall be succeeded to by legitimate male descendants in the male line of Imperial Ancestors". The line of succession is detailed in Article 2 as:

1. The eldest son of the Emperor
2. The grandson of the Emperor
3. Other descendants of the eldest son of the Emperor
4. The second son of the Emperor and his descendants
5. Other descendants of the Emperor
6. Brothers of the Emperor and their descendants
7. Uncles of the Emperor and their descendants.