Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda appears strongly committed to revising the Imperial Household Law to let female members of the Imperial family remain in the royal family even if they marry commoners. The Imperial family is the oldest royal family in the world and Chapter 1 of the Japanese Constitution is about the emperors. For Japan, to ensure stable imperial succession is an important matter.
But much doubt has been expressed about his ability to implement such a revision, which could potentially split public opinion down the middle, because he already faces a large number of urgent and sometimes controversial issues, which include reconstruction of the areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear crisis, raising the consumption tax rate, social security reform and Japan's possible entry into the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement. (Japan Times)
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