Japanese Prime Minister Asahi Hayato clearly stated that the succession to the imperial throne is limited to male descendants through the paternal line.

Today, in the Diet, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Hayato gave an unusually clear statement:

"The succession to the throne must be limited to the paternal male line; this line cannot be broken."

This one sentence directly put an end to the years of heated discussions about "female emperors" and "the theory of Princess Aiko's ascension."

Now, there are only three people left in the Japanese imperial succession:

60-year-old Prince Naruhito of Akasaka, 19-year-old Prince Hisahiro, and 90-year-old Prince Takamado.

After that? There's no one. True 'a crisis of extinguishing the lineage.'

According to public opinion polls, eight out of ten Japanese support Princess Aiko as a female emperor. But today, Kishida said in front of national cameras:

"I and the government respect the conclusion of the expert group in 2021, and male-line inheritance is the orthodox way."

She even brought up the most conservative solution of "adopting a distant male relative to succeed," but didn't budge on allowing women or matrilineal succession.

This is not just a routine policy statement. It is the hardest pledge to the conservative base of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after their big victory:

"You can rest assured, I will uphold the 2,600-year-old tradition, without yielding an inch."

Princess Aiko is now 23 years old, and she will turn 24 next year.

No matter how outstanding she is or how beloved by the people, she can only stand outside the rules, watching that throne forever remain out of her reach.

In this moment, the Japanese imperial family is not discussing an heir, but rather whether a whole era should come to a complete end.

Kishida Hayato nailed history to the cross of male-line succession with a single sentence.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1858272974614537/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.