Imperial law revision bill to pass Japan lower house as Diet gridlock ends

Ruling and opposition parties have formally agreed to hold a House of Representatives plenary session on Friday to deliberate a bill to ensure the sustainability of the imperial family system, moving a step closer to bringing about the controversial changes.The deliberation schedule was fixed on Thursday after a deal was struck to end a stalemate in the lower house over what opposition parties viewed as the government and ruling parties' high-handed way of handling parliamentary proceedings regarding other bills.The gridlock had prevented the start of deliberations on the bill to revise the…READ FULL ARTICLE