Nearly two-thirds of respondents think female members of the imperial family should retain their status after marriage, a Jiji Press opinion poll showed Thursday.
While 64.9% of respondents backed that idea, 10.7% opposed it and a total of 24.3% had no opinion or were not sure.
The interview survey, conducted for four days through Monday, covered 2,000 people age 18 or older across the country. Valid responses came from 58.8%.
The poll also asked whether respondents agree that male members in the paternal line of 11 former imperial family branches, which left the imperial family after the end of World War II, should be adopted back into the family.
This idea was supported by 39.2% of respondents, while those who opposed it or either had no opinion or were not sure accounted for 22.2% and 38.6%, respectively.
These ideas have been proposed to ensure stable imperial succession amid a decline in the number of imperial family members.
Ruling and opposition parties are currently discussing the proposals with the aim of compiling necessary legislation during the ongoing session of the Diet, Japan's parliament.
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