A government panel tasked with studying ways to ensure a stable imperial succession submitted on Wednesday two proposals to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that would stop the imperial family from shrinking further, but postponed conclusions regarding specific measures on succession.

The two options — allowing female members who marry commoners to retain their imperial status, and male heirs from former branches to be adopted into the imperial family by revising the 1947 Imperial House Law — seek to address the dwindling number of eligible heirs.

The advisory panel did not touch on whether women or matrilineal imperial members will be eligible to ascend the throne, saying the issue "should be judged in the future," despite a call by parliament on the government to promptly hold discussions on how to achieve a stable imperial succession in a 2017 nonbinding resolution.