What underpins the legitimacy of the imperial family's role and imperial succession? It is the Constitution, which stipulates that "the emperor shall be the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people" and that "the imperial throne shall be dynastic."Watching and listening to parliamentary debate over the revised Imperial House Law, I worried that this principle was being disregarded. Some conservatives argued that succession by a male in the male line is the imperial family's tradition, but their premise was off, making the argument unpersuasive.Why do they insist on that? Perhaps b…READ FULL ARTICLE
