Japan has had eight empresses in its history. (That’s not including Himiko, the legendary shamaness-queen of Yamatai-koku.) The last one was in the Edo period: Go-Sakuramachi held the throne as the country’s 117th Emperor from 1762 until 1771.
Since then, Japan has had only male emperors. And, legally, the lineage can only pass through the male side of the imperial family.
As I’ve discussed before, that has Japan in something of an imperial panic. Because, currently, there are only two men who can ascend to the throne: Crown Prince Fumihito and his only son, the light novel-loving Prince Hisahito.
That’s stirred up official and public ruminations about what should be done to preserve the imperial line. The obvious answer, of course, is: let women be emperors! If allowed, the first in succession would actually be Aiko, Princess Toshi, the daughter of the current emperor and empress, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako.
Previous polls have shown that support for Aiko becoming empress is actually high among the Japanese public. Mainichi Shimbun, a prominent left-liberal voice in Japan, reawakened this debate a few days ago when it released a new poll showing that 61% of those asked would support her being the spiritual figurehead of the country. Only 9% said they opposed Aiko in this role.
That seems natural. After all, the imperial line itself is said to descend from a Goddess – Amaterasu Ōkami.
Despite this rich mythology, right-wingers on The Social Media Network Formerly Known as Twitter laid into Mainichi’s poll. The thing is, this time [insert the_worse_guy_you_know.png here], I think they have a point.
