With a shrinking pool of potential heirs to the throne, a Japanese government panel recommended that the toothless position of emperor should continue to be handed down only to males, the Associated Press reports.
With Emperor Naruhito two months away from his 62nd birthday, the line of succession for the throne is limited to his younger brother, 56-year-old Akishino, and Akishino’s teenage son, Hisahito — other than his 86-year-old uncle, Prince Hitachi. Called the Tennō, or the “Heavenly Emperor,” the position is the symbol of the Japanese state.
The pool of potential successors has also shrunk due to the rule that women in the imperial houses who marry commoners must lose their royal positions. Naruhito’s daughter Aiko, his only child, is not eligible to inherit the throne. Her cousin Mako left the royal family after marrying her college sweetheart last month.
Conservatives in Japan have fought for the continuation of the male-only line of succession–as well as for the continuation of the royal throne in the democratic nation. The royal family cost the Japanese people $325 million per year for a position with no official power.