署名活動にご賛同いただきました皆様へ、うれしいお知らせです♪

この度の署名活動の提出先のひとつでありました、国連の女性差別撤廃委員会が現地時間10月17日に行いました日本に対する審査で、

皇室典範の見直し検討を促す意見があったそうです！

時事通信の10月18日朝の記事によると、

「男女平等の観点から皇室典範の見直し検討を促す意見が上がった。同委は近く改善勧告を含む報告書を公表する。」とありました。

私たちの署名活動からの国連への陳情がなかったとしても同様の意見はあったかもしれませんが、

少なくとも陳情をしたことで、国連の女性差別撤廃委員会も

「一般日本国民からも皇位継承権を男子に限定しているのはおかしい！」

という意見や活動があることが分かり、日本政府に対して意見を出す後押しになったことは間違いないでしょう。

皆様の一筆が国連の背中を押し、動かしたのだと思います！

本当にご賛同ありがとうございました！

皆様を代表させていただき、私が国連に提出した陳情書の受領受付画面。

●提出した陳情書の本文

We would like CEDAW to know Japan’s Imperial succession rule is still standing on serious gender discrimination. Japanese are living in a country where “women” cannot be the emperor, the symbol of Japan!

In my opinion, this is because the Japanese government (dominated by LDP politicians with a very large percentage of older men) is strongly biased against gender discrimination.

We would like to have a warning from the CEDAW to the Japanese government regarding the revision of the Imperial Household Law, which limits the succession to the throne to males only as a violation of gender equality.

We, Association in Support of Aiko's Rising Crown Princess, is the civil group who want Princess Aiko to succeed the Imperial Throne, by revising the Imperial Household Law removing “male only” provision from it.  

We have started the signature campaign for the petition to remove the “male only” provision from Article 1 of the Imperial Household Law and to allow Princess Aiko to succeed the Imperial throne, since June 1, 2024. And we have collected 10,964 signs from Japanese citizens as of today.  (https://voice.charity/events/784)

But politicians of the LDP party would never accept the petition so it will not be discussed in the diet.

Here is the situation about Japanese imperial succession.

■ Do you know that Princess Aiko cannot be the Future Emperor “BECAUSE SHE IS A WOMAN”?

Some of you who live in more gender equal countries than Japan, may think that Princess Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, would be the next Emperor of Japan.

But it’s not. According to the current Japanese Imperial Household Law, Princess Aiko cannot be the next Emperor because she is a "WOMAN".!

"Princess Aiko” is excluded from the right of succession to the throne simply because she is a ‘WOMAN’ and is not allowed to succeed to the throne under current law.

If Princess Aiko were biologically male, she would be assigned to be the next in line to the throne with no argument, and would have been crowned Crown Prince upon his father, Emperor Naruhito's accession to the throne.

By today's social standards of gender equality, isn't this discrimination against women?

About half of Japan's population is female like many other countries.

Limiting the imperial successors to the throne to male heirs only is the same thing as sending a message of Japan's gender discrimination to the world that women cannot be the symbol of the nation and females cannot be the head of state of Japan.

This is what we want to change.

■ According to public opinion polls conducted by various media, approximately 90% of the public supports a female emperor.

According to a nationwide mail poll published by Kyodo News on April 27, 2024, approximately 90% of respondents agreed with the idea of supporting a female emperor.

In other words, the overwhelming majority of the Japanese public supports a female emperor.

However, politicians are not listening to the overwhelming voice of the public and are sticking to the “male-male line of succession.

Why is this?

It was not until the Meiji era (from 1868-until 1912) that (the former constitution of Japan, which is the Constitution of the Empire of Japan) stipulated that only men could be emperors.

Looking back in history, there have been 8 female emperors prior to the Meiji era.

But the Japanese government is treating this very temporary “male-male line of succession rule" that arose in the long history of the imperial lineage, which is said to be over 2,600 years, as if it were a tradition that can never be changed.

■The solution is quite easy, just to revise Article 1 of the Imperial Household Law.

Article 1 of the Constitution states, “The Emperor is the symbol of Japan and of the unity of the Japanese people,

This position is based on the consensus of the people of Japan, who have sovereignty over the country.

In other words, according to the Constitution, both of male and female can be the emperor if the person can get the consensus from the Japanese public.

And the most important thing is that the future Emperor needs to have the consensus from the Japanese public, to succeed to the throne.

Although she does not currently have the right to succeed to the throne, Princess Aiko would be the only one who could fulfill the constitutional requirement of obtaining the consensus of the Japanese people.

Furthermore, Article II of the Constitution stipulates that the emperor is hereditary. However, it only stipulates “hereditary succession” and does not specify the gender of the emperor.

The Constitution does not specify the gender of the emperor, but its subordinate law, the Imperial Household Law, limits the position to male only, which is in violation of the Constitution.

In 1947, a law stipulating that only males have the right to succeed to the Imperial Throne was enacted, which says “The Imperial Throne shall be succeeded by a male member of the imperial lineage.

This article was taken from the Imperial Japanese Constitution of 1889, which stipulated that “The Imperial Throne shall be succeeded by male descendants of the Imperial Family in accordance with the provisions of the Imperial Household Law.

The social conditions of the Meiji era, which is 135 years ago, were very different from those of today.

The “concubine system” is already abolished, and it will be biologically difficult to continue the imperial lineage with a male only lineage.

As long as we continue to insist on the “male only lineage,” the number of successors to the throne will decline and the imperial line will remain unstable.

Or, a princess who marries a man with the right to the throne is always forced to give birth to a boy, and even gender-selected birth can occur in order to have a boy, officially approved by the government. Gender selected birth may have actually occurred in the past. This is highly unethical.

A law that recognizes the right of male lineage to the throne but not female lineage is nothing more than an anachronism.

If the law is outdated and complicates matters, it needs to be updated to allow succession to the throne regardless of gender.

Article 2 of the Constitution of Japan stipulates only that the succession to the throne is “hereditary,” and Article 14 of the Constitution also stipulates that “All citizens are equal under the law and shall not be discriminated against in political, economic, or social relations on the basis of race, creed, sex, social status, or family origin.” The law also stipulates that “all citizens are equal under the law and shall not be discriminated against in political, economic or social relations on the basis of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.

In 1985, Japan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Some people believe that the Imperial Household Law, which stipulates that male lineage children have the right to succeed to the Imperial Throne, is unconstitutional because it violates the principles of Article 14 of the Constitution and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

We hope that as many people as possible will recognize that the Japanese “male only imperial succession” is not the tradition but gender discrimination against women.

In order to realize a female emperor, based on the principles of the Constitution, Article 1 of the Imperial Household Law should be revised to read, “The Imperial Throne shall be succeeded by a member of the imperial lineage.”

The Imperial Household Law differs from the Constitution. Unlike the Constitution, the Imperial House Law can be amended by a majority vote in the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors.

The process of revising Imperial Household Law is not so difficult, as mentioned, but why are the Japanese politicians so reluctant to make the change?

We assume this is because no politicians want to take the responsibilities.

To break through the situation, we believe the warning from CEDAW will be a good pressure for them.

The Japanese Constitution states that the emperor is the symbol of Japan. If the Imperial House Law were amended to allow a woman to become the emperor and symbol of Japan, it would be a big step towards the "society in which all women can shine," which is what the Japanese government is promoting, whose gender gap is 118^th in the world.