Japan‘s Prince Hisahito, the country’s first royal male to reach adulthood in 40 years, marked his coming-of-age with an elaborate ceremony steeped in Imperial tradition at the weekend.
The only son of Emperor Naruhito’s brother, Fumihito, Crown Prince Akishino, the heir to the throne, and his wife, Crown Princess Kiko, Hisahito is second in line to the 1,500-year-old Chrysanthemum Throne due to Japan’s male-only succession policy.
Naruhito, 65, and his wife Empress Masako share only one daughter – Princess Aiko, 23 – who, despite being extremely popular in her native country, cannot succeed her father after a 19th-century ruling abolished female succession.
Since there is currently no one to follow Hisahito, the dragonfly-loving biology student’s coming-of-age celebrations on Saturday threw Japan’s succession crisis into sharp relief.
Hisahito, who was born on September 6, 2006, decided to postpone the rituals associated with reaching legal adulthood last year so he could focus on his entrance exams for Tsukuba University.
Saturday’s ritual for Hisahito started at his family residence, the Imperial Palace in Edo Castle in Tokyo, with the 19-year-old appearing in a tuxedo to receive a crown delivered by a messenger from Naruhito.
In a main ritual at the Imperial Palace, attended by other royal members and top government officials, he wore traditional attire with a beige-coloured robe that symbolised his pre-adulthood status.
Hisahito’s head cover was replaced with the crown, a black adult ‘kanmuri’ headpiece, formalising his coming-of-age.
Japan’s Prince Hisahito (pictured, second in line to the Imperial throne, marked his coming-of-age at the weekend with an elaborate ceremony including a series of rituals
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako (left) with their daughter Princess Aiko. Aiko cannot succeed her father due to Japan’s male-only succession policy
Japanese Prince Hisahito, son of Crown Prince Akishino, wearing ancient ceremonial costume, leaves for a ceremony by a carriage at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Saturday
Hisahito bowed deeply and thanked the Emperor for the crown, and his parents for hosting the ceremony, and pledged to fulfil his responsibility as a royal member.
The crowned prince then changed into adult attire – a black top – and he rode in a royal horse carriage to pray at the three shrines within the palace compound.
In the afternoon, Hisahito once again donned his tuxedo to visit the Imperial Palace to greet Naruhito and Empress Masako, his uncle and aunt, in the prestigious Matsu-no-Ma, or pine room.
Another ritual saw him receive a medal, the Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum, in a postwar tradition. Hisahito also greeted his grandparents, Akihito and his wife, former Empress Michiko, at their palace.
In the evening, Akishino and Kiko hosted a private celebration for their son at a Tokyo hotel for their relatives.
The rituals also include Hisahito’s visits early this week to Ise, Japan’s top Shinto shrine, the mausoleum of the mythical first emperor Jinmu in Nara, as well as that of his late great-grandfather, wartime emperor Hirohito, in the Tokyo suburbs.
He will also have lunch with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and other dignitaries on Wednesday.
Elements of the formal celebrations were shared on the official Instagram page of the Japanese royal household on Sunday, with a series of photos attracting almost 121,000 likes.
Hisahito is seen in ceremonial attire during his coming-of-age rites in the Imperial Palace
He was assisted when it came to putting on the elaborate attire for the ceremony
The Instagram account was only launched in April 2024, more than a decade after the British royal family joined the platform, and was seen as part of a broader effort by the Japanese Imperial Family to further its reach with the public.
And, earlier this year, Japan‘s royal family, the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy, launched an updated website.
Japan’s royals are currently facing a succession crisis, because women are not permitted to sit on the throne, and female births have outweighed male births in recent generations.
The website allows online visitors to learn about the Imperial Family’s culture and members and to find out the latest news about the royal household.
It also provides links to information regarding visiting the Imperial Palace and other related buildings.
It’s an offering that follows in the footsteps of European royal families, who have used equivalent digital platforms for years.
By forming an online presence, the palace hopes to strengthen its bond with the younger generations by updating them with royal happenings, according to TBS News.
It’s perhaps a necessary move given the current precarious position of the family, as a result of the country’s male primogeniture law.
Hisahito, wearing ancient ceremonial costume, leaves for a ceremony by a carriage at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo Saturday
He waved at the gathered crowds as he left the Imperial Palace in Tokyo
Hisahito visits Ise Jingu shrine in Ise, Mie prefecture, central Japan, as part of his coming-of-age rituals
Prince Hisahito, pictured as a newborn, was born on September 6, 2006
Emperor Naruhito has just one daughter with his wife Empress Masako, Princess Aiko, who was born in 2001 after the royal couple underwent fertility treatment.
Female births have far outweighed male births in recent generations of the Japanese royal family, and the dynasty currently has just three male heirs, one of whom is already in his 80s.
There’s Fumihito, Crown Prince Akishino, 59, who is the Emperor’s brother, Prince Hisahito, Fumihito’s 19-year-old son, and third-in-line Prince Hitachi, who is 89.
As well as a shortage of heirs, the monarchy is also ageing – with seven members aged over 60 – and rapidly dwindling.
After the death of Princess Yuriko on November 15, the Imperial Family consists of just 16 members.
Yuriko, who outlived her husband and three sons, was the wife of wartime Emperor Hirohito’s brother and the oldest member of the royal family. She died at a Tokyo hospital, the Imperial Household Agency said, and her funeral was held on Tuesday.
Being a woman born into the country’s Imperial House isn’t an entirely enviable role; a Japanese princess can currently never be Empress and must lose her royal title if she chooses to wed a commoner.
A five-year-old Hisahito, wearing a traditional ceremonial attire, is accompanied by his parents, Prince Akishino, Princess Kiko, his sisters Princess Mako, left, and Princess Kako, right, after attending ‘Chakko-no-gi’ ceremony to celebrate his growth and the passage from infancy to childhood, at the Akasaka imperial estate in Tokyo in November 2011
Any children she had with that person would also never form part of the Imperial House.
Emperor Naruhito’s daughter Aiko, now 23, already lives a life moulded by the dynasty she’s part ofsurrounded by intense levels of security and unable to have political views or vote.
The young royal lives with her parents at The Imperial Palace in Edo Castle in Tokyo and works as a newsletter editor for the Japanese Red Cross Society, a role she combines with her royal engagements.
For now wedded to a life of public duty, Aiko, might yet look to the path her first cousin, Mako Komuro, formerly Princess Mako of Akishino, has taken; the former royal enjoys an upper-class quiet life in New York.
In 2017, Crown Prince Fumihito’s eldest daughter, 33, sent shockwaves through the country when she announced she was giving up her royal title to marry Kei Komuro, her long-term boyfriend.
Mako and Komuro met at Tokyo’s International Christian University in 2013 and became engaged in secret, before announcing their intention to marry in September 2017, which sparked huge scrutiny.
Their wedding in October 2021 was distinctly low-key. It was met with protests, held behind closed doors without any of the pomp and pageantry of other Japanese royal weddings, which traditionally include a reception, banquet, and a parade through the streets of Tokyo.
Reading out a prepared statement, Mako defended her decision to marry, describing Kei as ‘irreplaceable’ and saying ‘our marriage is a necessary step for us to be able to protect our hearts.’
Mako Komuro, formerly Princess Mako of Akishino, (pictured left) now lives in New York
Mako also surrendered a £1million payment she was entitled to according to Japanese tradition, becoming the first imperial family member since World War II to not receive the payment.
Now living simply as Mako Komuro, the former Princess lives in a luxurious but modest – at least according to the proportions of the Imperial Palace – apartment in the Big Apple, with the pair regularly pictured on shopping trips together in the city.
Current Imperial Household Law, established in 1947, states that only a male descendant of a male emperor can succeed to the throne.
Japan has had eight female monarchs between the sixth and 18th centuries, however none came through a female line of descent, and most were temporary rulers, holding the throne until a male successor was ready.
One option for reform would be allowing women to keep their imperial status after marrying, regardless of their husbands’ status, so that any future sons could join the line of succession.
This is opposed by traditionalists who argue that legitimate succession can only pass through the male line.
Another possibility relates to former aristocratic families, whose imperial status was abolished during the U.S. Occupation of Japan following the empire’s defeat in the Second World War.
The proposal suggests that scions of these families could be adopted into the emperor’s family.
The Imperial Household Agency’s updated website allows the public to learn about the family’s culture and happenings
Yet another option, which also concerns these formerly imperial families, would see an effective restoration of the aristocracy with the male members being reinstated.
Traditionalists worry that any reform to the rules of succession threatens the legitimacy, and therefore the stability, of the Imperial Household. Reformists, on the other hand, argue that the Imperial House must adapt to survive.
The Japanese imperial family is considered to be the world’s oldest monarchy, with an unbroken line of male succession that can be traced back two millennia.
Mythology, recognised by the Imperial House, has the legendary Emperor Jimmu, said to be a descendant of a sun goddess and a storm god, as the first of 126 Japanese emperors leading up to the current Emperor Naruhito.
Speaking ahead of a state visit to Britain in June 2024 with his wife Empress Masako, Emperor Naruhito made a rare comment about the crisis facing the imperial household.
He said: ‘The number of male members of the imperial family is decreasing, they are ageing, and female members of the imperial family leave the imperial family upon marriage.’
If the marriage was to a prince, they could stay within the family – the trouble is that there are no fellow male royals for them to wed.
‘Due to these factors, the number of members of the imperial family who can take on public duties is decreasing compared to before,’ he continued.
Japan ‘s royal family , the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy, is facing a succession crisis – because women still aren’t allowed to take to the throne
‘This is a problem that relates to the future of the imperial family, but I would like to refrain from commenting on matters related to the [legal] system.’
His comments make for a rare insight into the royal dynasty, as emperors have avoided discussing items of political importance since Japan’s defeat in the Second World War.
The slimmed down state of the Japanese monarchy is partly due to male primogeniture rules, meaning only male members of the royal family can succeed the throne.
Only four out of 16 members of Naruhito’s family are male, following Emperor Emeritus Akihito’s abdication in 2019.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako share only one child, Princess Aiko, who was born in 2001 after fertility treatment. However, she cannot take the country’s throne.
This means the heir to the throne is Naruhito’s younger brother, Crown Prince Fumihito, 58.
His son, 19-year-old Prince Hisahito and Naruhito’s uncle Prince Hitachi, 89, are the only other male figures of the dynasty.
The country’s strict laws of succession forbid women from ascending to the Chrysanthemum Throne and force them to give up their titles if they marry commoners.
Hisahito, 3, smiles as he holds a rabbit during his visit to Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan, with his parents Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko in Ocotber 2009
However, 90 per cent of the public support a change to the law to allow women to ascend the throne, according to a recent poll.
European monarchies meanwhile have largely accepted female rulers, but a small, powerful group of traditionalists, many of whom are members of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic party, say that thousands of years of tradition would be broken should women be allowed to rule.
They believe that current emperor Naruhito is the direct descendant of one of the world’s oldest royal lines which can be tracked all the way back to the first emperor Jimmu (711-585BC).
It is believed that Jimmu was a direct descendant of the sun goddess, Amaterasu, and that since then the line has been maintained by male heirs. If the lineage is broken, traditionalists fear the public will no longer see the need for an emperor.
Earlier this year, Japanese politicians debated solutions to resolve the crisis, which did not include allowing women to rule.
Instead, options included allowing princesses to remain in the royal family after marriage and bringing back descendants of former cadet branches into the fold, who lost their royal status after World War Two.
This still would not increase the number of heirs, as the LDP insists princess’ children should not be allowed to rule.
In November 2023, Emperor Naruhito called for a review of official duties because members are either leaving due to age or marrying a commoner, according to the Japan Times.
‘It would be difficult to pass on (official duties) if the number (of imperial family members) decreases,’ the crown prince told journalists in Tokyo.
