Bombshell laws passed to save Royal Family from extinction as succession faces collapse

Japan’s Royal Family has been saved from total extinction by a bombshell new law passed to stop the line of succession from collapsing. The emergency move comes as the palace faces a terrifying crisis, with the world’s oldest monarchy running out of male heirs.

Under strict Japanese rules, women are completely banned from taking the throne. Plans to change this were dropped when Prince Hisahito was born in September 2006. But with the family shrinking fast, Japan’s parliament has been forced to step in with a dramatic new bill. While women are still banned from becoming empresses, the family will now be allowed to adopt distant male relatives over the age of 15 to secure the bloodline.

These new male heirs come from 11 old branches of the family – such as the Kaya, Kuni, and Takeda lines – which were stripped of their titles after World War Two. They were kicked out in 1947 by US-led forces during the post-war occupation in a bid to downsize the palace and slash its wealth.

The crisis is now critical, as there are currently only three heirs left to the throne: Emperor Naruhito’s 60-year-old brother Crown Prince Fumihito, his 90-year-old uncle Prince Hitachi and 19-year-old Prince Hisahito. The nephew of the current emperor and the only son of Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko, Hisahito was born in 2006 and was seen as a national miracle. It followed a 41-year drought where no boys were born into the royal family, halting plans to let the Emperor’s daughter, Princess Aiko, take the throne.

As the only male of his generation, he is the family’s ultimate and final hope. If Prince Hisahito doesn’t have a son in the future, the entire royal family will die out.

Despite being locked out of the succession, there is now a huge win for the Emperor’s daughter, Princess Aiko, 24. Previously, royal women were stripped of their titles and kicked out of the family if they married a commoner. This archaic rule has now been axed, meaning Aiko can keep her title.

However, there is a major catch – if these royal women have sons, they will still be barred from becoming Emperor. This is because traditional rules strictly dictate that the royal bloodline must only be passed down through the father’s side, meaning children of a commoner father are instantly disqualified from the crown.

The law change comes too late for Princess Mako, who lost everything when she married her university sweetheart, Kei Komuro, in 2021. The couple were forced to flee Japan for a new life in New York, where they welcomed their first child in May 2025.

Ahead of her move, Mako said: “What I would like is to just lead a peaceful life in my new environment. We are starting a new life together. There will be obstacles in different forms going forward, but as a couple we will overcome these obstacles with our combined strength… I hope that I can build a warm family in an environment where I can spend my time calmly.”