Female members of the Imperial family must retain their status after marriage to maintain the Emperor system, experts told a government panel Wednesday.
Journalist Soichiro Tahara and Akira Imatani, a Teikyo University professor on medieval Japanese history, were invited to give their views at the panel's first hearing. Panel members include Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tsuyoshi Saito and Itsuo Sonobe, a former Supreme Court justice who was appointed as special adviser to the Cabinet on the issue.
Both Tahara and Imatani recommended that females be allowed to stay within the Imperial family after marriage, though with limits on their lineage.