Until October 1947, when it was abolished and replaced with the Imperial Household Law, it defined the succession to the throne under the principle of agnatic primogeniture.
[6] All of the five grandchildren of Prince Mikasa who were born into the imperial family, after being conceived by sons Tomohito and Takamado, were female granddaughters as well.
[7][8][9][10] By the amended 1889 house law, the imperial line of succession continued as follows: [bold - currently extant branches.
[18] A large number of "Imperial Way" followers in the military were critical of the emperor for his scientific interests, self-effacing demeanour and presumed pacifism, considering him a "mediocre" individual easily manipulated by corrupt advisors.
With his political leanings, Prince Chichibu antagonized his elder brother, who strongly reprimanded him on several occasions and arranged for his posting to unimportant positions where he could be more closely watched.
He was quietly passed over in the line of succession in favour of his brother Prince Takamatsu, who began to undertake more official duties.
[17] In July 1944, though the hopelessness of Japan's war effort became clear after the loss of Saipan, the emperor persisted in defending Prime Minister Tojo and his government and refused to dismiss him.
By this plan, Prince Higashikuni would replace Tojo as prime minister and attempt to negotiate a settlement with the Allies.
Konoe had informed Kido of rumours that if such a situation were to arise, radicals in the military would stage a coup and take the emperor to Manchuria, still considered a safe location for a government, or replace him on the throne with a more militant imperial prince.
The government of Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida cobbled together the legislation to bring the Imperial House in compliance with the American-written Constitution of Japan that went into effect in May 1947.
In January 2005, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appointed a special panel of judges, university professors, and civil servants to study changes to the Imperial House Law and to make recommendations to the government.
However, a government-appointed panel of experts submitted a report on November 24, 2005, recommending that the imperial succession law be amended to permit absolute primogeniture.
As above, the liberal wing of the Diet of Japan has proposed absolute primogeniture, which would permit the women of the existing imperial household to serve as empress as well as produce heirs.
[25] In November 2020, it was recommended that the discussion be shelved until Prince Hisahito himself becomes an adult and begins producing offspring,[26] this proposition has been criticized as possibly delaying the debate until the women of the imperial house would be too old to have children, as getting married removes them from the imperial house,[26] however such a law may retroactively bring princesses back into the family and resolve this problem.
[27] The results of various polls and surveys in recent years have shown consistent high levels of support for reigning empresses.