Princess Takamatsu has penned an article for publication in a biweekly magazine in which she expresses her support for the possibility that Japan may one day have a reigning empress, it was learned Sunday.
The two-page article will be featured in the next issue of Fujin-Koron, a women's opinion magazine produced by Chuokoron-Shinsha Inc., due out on Monday.
Princess Takamatsu, 90, is the widow of Emperor Hirohito's younger brother Prince Takamatsu. Emperor Hirohito, who is posthumously known as Emperor Showa, was the current Emperor Akihito's father.
The princess expressed support for amending the Imperial House Law, which allows only male members of the Imperial family to succeed the throne, but said legal experts must proceed cautiously in dealing with the first clause of the law.
The first clause stipulates only male imperial members can succeed to the throne.
"It is possible that a female imperial member will ascend the throne as 127th empress and it is not unnatural to see it happen, given the long history of Japan," she said in the article.
Emperor Akihito is the 125th emperor and Crown Prince Naruhito is the heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
However, since no male imperial family members have been born since the crown prince's younger brother Prince Akishino's birth 36 years ago, it is now possible there will be no male family member to succeed the imperial throne after the 126th emperor.
In her note, Princess Takamatsu also cited past reigning empresses, and foreign royal families that thrived under queens, as valid reasons to consider changing the law.
The note was written to coincide with the birth Dec. 1 of Princess Aiko, the first child of the crown prince and Crown Princess Masako.