The announced engagement of Princess Ayako, a daughter of a late cousin of Emperor Akihito, to Kei Moriya, a Nippon Yusen K.K. employee, signals the exit of yet another member from the shrinking ranks of the Imperial family that supports the Emperor. The Imperial House Law , which limits Imperial succession to males on the paternal lineage, dictates that a female member will be stripped of her imperial status when she marries someone from outside of the family. When Princess Mako, the eldest daughter of Prince Akishino whose marriage to her former university classmate has been postponed to 2020, similarly leaves the family, the number of Imperial family members will decline from the current 19 to 17.
Aside from Princess Ayako and Princess Mako, there are five other unmarried female members of the Imperial family. Three of them are in their 30s and the sole teenage member is Princess Aiko, the 16-year-old daughter of Crown Prince Naruhito. The marriages of these female members will further reduce the number of Imperial family members. The declining ranks of the Imperial family — an issue that was once again exposed in the course of discussion over the Emperor's abdication — will only get more serious with the passage of time. But discussion on what to do about the issue remains slow.
The special law enacted last year to set the stage for Emperor Akihito to retire in April 2019 had a resolution attached to it that called on the government, upon the Emperor's abdication, to promptly look into possible measures to deal with the shrinking membership of the Imperial family and report to the Diet, although it set no timeline for reaching any decision on the matter. The option of creating Imperial houses headed by female members, which would enable the female members to remain in the family after marriage, has been weighed by the government but conservatives — who fear such a system could pave the way for reigning empresses or Imperial succession on the maternal lineage — strongly oppose the idea. The news of Princess Ayako's engagement, however, once again confirms that the problem won't resolve itself. Action is necessary.