What is...............???

Question

The line of succession in Japan?? I know about the Emperor being the 125th Emperor of Japan and that only males are supposed to inherit the throne but what is the line of succession?? In other words, who will be enthroned after the current Emperor dies.

Answer 1

Current status

Succession is now regulated by laws passed by the Japanese Diet. The current law excludes females from the succession. A change to this law had been considered until Princess Kiko gave birth to a son.

Until the birth of a son to Prince Akishino on September 6, 2006, there was a potential succession crisis, since Prince Akishino was the only male child to be born into the imperial family since 1965. Following the birth of Princess Aiko, there was some public debate about amending the current Imperial Household Law to allow women to succeed to the throne. This creates a logistical challenge as well as political: any change in the law would most likely mean a revision to allow the succession of the first born rather than the first-born son; however, the current emperor is not the first born--he has elder sisters. In January 2005 Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appointed a special panel composed of judges, university professors, and civil servants to study changes to the Imperial Household Law and to make recommendations to the government.

The panel dealing with the succession issue recommended on October 25, 2005 amending the law to allow females of the male line of imperial descent to ascend the Japanese throne. On January 20, 2006, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi devoted part of his annual keynote speech to the controversy, pledging to submit a bill allowing women to ascend the throne to ensure that the succession continues in the future in a stable manner. However, shortly after the announcement that Princess Kiko was pregnant with her third child, Koizumi suspended such plans. Her son, Prince Hisahito, is the third in line to the throne under the current law of succession. On January 3, 2007, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that he would drop the proposal to alter the Imperial Household Law.

The current heir to the throne is Emperor Akihito's eldest son Crown Prince Naruhito, who has a daughter with his wife.

If Emperor Akihito predeceases Crown Prince Naruhito, then the Crown Prince will get the throne.

After Crown Prince Naruhito dies and, assuming Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife have no male children (a safe assumption as it is rumored that the wife is a bit cuckoo because of the stress of trying to give birth to a son for the succession_, the throne will then go to his BROTHER Prince Akishino.  This is, assuming of course, that he does not predecease Crown Prince Naruhito.

Once Prince Akishino dies, then the throne will go to his son, Prince Hisahito of Akishino (assuming the son doesn't predecease Prince Akishino).

Prince Hisahito is in the direct line of succession to the Imperial throne and will eventually succeed to the throne, although this situation would change if Hisahito's uncle, Crown Prince Naruhito, would produce a male heir or if the laws were changed following the Japanese imperial succession controversy.

Answer 2

The current heir to the throne is the emporer's eldest son, who has a daughter with  his wife.

He will inherit, as normal.

After he dies, and he and his wife have no male children, the throne will then go to his BROTHER's son.

The succession after that will then follow his line, rather the line of the current eldest heir.