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Japan's monarchy under threat from its 'male-only' succession rules - with only one young heir in waiting and princesses who could play a supporting role forced to quit if they wed commoners
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.
Emperor Naruhito, 64, has just one daughter by 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.
The dynasty currently has three male heirs: Fumihito, Crown Prince Akishino, 58, who is the Emperor's brother, Prince Hisahito - Fumihito's 17-year-old son, and third-in-line Prince Hitachi, who is 88 and the brother of former Emperor Emeritus.
It's been five years since Naruhito ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1st 2019 following the historic abdication of his father Emperor Akihito at the age of 87.
The question of who's up next continues to perplex both the royal family and the country's political parties, which last week began discussing revamping the succession rules.
Princess Aiko, the 22-year-old daughter of Japan's Emperor Naruhito, 64, and his wife Empress Masako, 60. Under current Japanese law, princesses aren't currently allowed to ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne - and must leave if they choose to marry a commoner
The current monarch, Emperor Naruhito, 64, pictured centre, has been on the Japanese throne since 2019 - but the dynasty is suffering from a distinct lack of male heirs, with the Emperor's daughter Princess Aiko, 22, not allowed to take the throne (Pictured far right: Naruhito's wife Empress Masako)
Political parties are currently discussing reworking the 1947 succession laws to enable Princess Aiko to become Empress Aiko if her father dies (Pictured in Tokyo in 2021)
Life of service: Aiko, 22, currently combines her royal duties with a role at the Japanese Red Cross Society
Being a young woman in the country's Imperial House isn't an entirely enviable role; A Japanese princess can currently never by Empress and must lose her royal title if she chooses to wed a commoner.
Her children with said commoner would also never form part of the Imperial House.
Emperor Naruhito's daughter Aiko, now 22, already lives a life moulded by the dynasty she's part of - surrounded 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.
The emperor's brother Prince Fumihito's eldest daughter Princess Mako was forced to renounce her royal title in 2021, when she wed her university sweetheart Kei Komuro, a commoner
Low key life in the Big Apple: Kei and Maki Komuro pictured waiting for a bus in New York; the couple share a small but luxurious apartment in the city after they left Tokyo in 2021
Could Princess Aiko also faces renouncing her royal title if she falls in love with a commoner? (Pictured at the Akasaka Palace imperial garden in Tokyo in April)
For now wedded to a life of public duty, Aiko, might yet look to the path her first cousin, Princess Mako, has taken; the former royal enjoys an upper-class quiet life in New York.
In 2017, Crown Prince Fumihito's eldest daughter, 32, 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.
Only male heirs descended from a male emperor are eligible to become Emperor. The family currently has three male heirs: Crown Prince Akishino, who is the current Emperor's brother, Prince Hisahito - Akishino's 17-year-old son, and third-in-line Prince Hitachi, who is 88
The Imperial family pictured in 2019 before Princess Mako renounced her title: Japan's Emperor Naruhito, seated third from left, and Empress Masako, seated third from right, with front left to right) Empress Emerita Michiko, Emperor Emeritus Akihito, Crown Prince Akishino, and Crown Princess Kiko, (back from left to right) Princess Mako, Princess Aiko, Prince Hisahito, and Princess Kako
Princess Mako, right, pictured with her younger sister Princess Kako in September 2006 following the birth of their baby brother Prince Hisahito, who is now the country's only young heir
Pictured, Mako, right, with her parents and younger sister Kako at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo in 1999; the Japanese royal family has seen female births outweigh male births in recent generations
Komuro later said the money had been a gift, not a loan. But in 2021, he submitted a 24-page explanation and later reportedly said he would pay a settlement.
Their subsequent 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.
The Emperor's brother Crown Prince Akishino, centre left, is heir to the throne; his only son Prince Hisahito, 17, left, is second in line to the throne (Pictured with Crown Princess Kiko, centre right and their younger daughter Princess Kako)
There is support among the public and some politicians for Emperor Naruhito's daughter Princess Aiko (pictured in November 2020) to ascend to the throne - if she marries a commoner, she too will have to renounce her royal title and her future children will not form part of the Imperial House of Japan
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 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.
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 to be raised by the panel 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 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.
Mako, 30, the eldest daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito and niece of reigning Emperor Naruhito, tied the knot with university sweetheart Kei Komuro, a commoner, in Tokyo on Tuesday after an eight-year engagement. They have been engaged since 2013 and were due to marry three years ago, but the wedding was delayed following a financial scandal involving his mother
At the press conference, the couple read out prepared statements in which they apologised for any distress their marriage has caused - but defended their decision to go ahead with the ceremony
What a Japanese royal wedding normally looks like: Then-Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife Crown Princess Masako with former Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko after their wedding at the Imperial Palace on June 9th 1993 in Tokyo
Traditionally Japanese weddings are awash with the same kind of pomp and ceremony afforded to British royals - but only men are allowed to marry commoners without renouncing their titles in the Imperial House
High profile life of duty: Princess Mako of Japan pictured before she left the royal family, dressed in a traditional Jūnihitoe as she took part in a procession through Tokyo's Imperial Palace to mark her uncle's formal ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019
Unrest: Protesters pictured holding banners during a march against the marriage between Japan's Princess Mako and her fiance Kei Komuro back in 2021
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. Pictured: A crowd cheers the imperial family after Emperor Naruhito delivers his New Year's greeting in 2020
The commoner who wooed a princess: How Kei Komuro overcame scandal to wed Mako
Now a successful corporate lawyer working in New York, Kei Komuro's more humble upbringing saw him face scrutiny of Japan's media before his wedding to Princess Mako.
A furore erupted a few months after he and Mako announced their engagement in 2017, when tabloids reported a financial dispute between Komuro's mother and her former fiance, with the man claiming mother and son had failed to repay a debt of about $35,000.
Komuro later said the money had been a gift, not a loan. But in 2021, he submitted a 24-page explanation and later reportedly said he would pay a settlement.
In a press conference after their wedding, the now New York-based couple said: 'Our marriage is a necessary step for us to be able to protect our hearts.'
In September 2018, he left for studies at New York's Fordham University and now works at a New York law firm.
At a press conference following their wedding, the couple said: 'There will be different kinds of difficulties as we start our new life, but we'll walk together as we have done so in the past.'
Mako, apparently referring to mental health issues, noted 'many people have difficulty and hurt feelings while trying to protect their hearts'.
She said: 'I sincerely hope that our society will be a place where more people can live and protect their hearts with the help of warm help and support from others.'