The Japanese love her, but the law forbids female monarchs.
Princess Aiko turns 24 today and is hugely popular among the Japanese. During a visit to Nagasaki, people shouted her name louder than that of her parents, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, reports the Associated Press.
But despite her popularity, Aiko cannot become emperor. Japan’s 1947 law allows only male heirs to the throne.
The situation is critical for the Japanese Imperial House. The family has shrunk from 30 to 16 members in three decades. The emperor’s 19-year-old nephew, Prince Hisahito, is the only possible heir from the younger generation.
– I think the situation is already critical, says Professor Hideya Kawanishi at Nagoya University to AP.
Aiko has been wowing audiences since she debuted as an adult royal in 2021. She is described as intelligent, friendly and caring. In November, she made her first official visit abroad alone to Laos.
– I have always cheered for Princess Aiko to be crowned, says 82-year-old Setsuko Matsuo to AP.
Supporters are pushing for a change in the law. Cartoonist Yoshinori Kobayashi has created comics that argue that Aiko should be able to become a monarch.
Princess Aiko’s popularity has sparked pressure to change the law, which dates from 1947.
Conservative politicians, including Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, oppose changes. Japan has previously had eight female emperors, but the last reigned from 1762 to 1770.
