Should Japan have an emperor or an empress?

[faraithi]

Or simply do away with a monarchy that's powerless anyway? I wonder...

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http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20070104f2.html

Thursday, Jan. 4, 2007

   Foes of female reign bask in prince's birth
   Male-only succession must be preserved at all cost, conservatives say
   
By MASAMI ITO
 


 
Prince Akishino and his wife, Princess Kiko, smile at photographers as they leave a Tokyo hospital with  their newborn son, Prince Hisahito, on Sept. 15.  

[aimaime]

it's not just japan though. i think a lot of countries still have kings, queens, sultans and what not. i don't think it's that simple to do away with something that's been around for so long though..

[reyfer]

Or simply do away with a monarchy that's powerless anyway? I wonder...

Is that monarchy doing harm to Japan? I agree that, from our point of view, the part about the male succession should be revised, but why do away with monarchy? How about British monarchy? Monaco? Denmark, Norway, Netherlands?

[ferrar1]

Bah it should be given to the eldest child in line regardless of sex.

I'm supporting for an empress though if that will take off some of the male chauvinisty (?) in Japan away.

[thatguy]

you'd probably have to look into how relevant kojiki and nihon-shoki are among the modern population. both trace legitimacy of the emperor (gender biased) from the succession of heirs from the gods, and japan's own version of the imperial court did historically unify the archipelago before it became "the japan" that it is (although to what extent, versus military control, is debatable).

i don't think that gender is necessarily important--i'm sure there are females that could competently manage any nation's issues just as well as, if not better than, a male counterpart. but it's my opinion that the identity of japan is to an extent dependant on the legitimacy traced through kojiki, and while japan can be quite a progressive society (at least following WW2), i don't see modifications to the seat of the emperor being made any time soon.

[ctz]

I was hoping that without having a male heir in the imperial family Japan would have been somewhat forced to accept empress... But then that baby got a penis and I doubt they're changing the law anymore. I'm sure that having an empress would have given a nice boost for equality in Japan.

I think having a monarchy is something nice, in Finland we don't have a king, but for some reason crowds of people go to see swedish monarchs every time they visit here. Which is kinda ridiculous.

[pikapikapika]

Perhaps the whole Idol industry would be destroyed if there was a female monarch.

[Blu-Cherri]

Well we have a Queen but it's the male successors that get priority but that doesn't mean that girls can't take to the throne if there's no male.
ie if the king and queen have a child and it's a girl and have no more children(cept maybe more girls) then that first girl will be queen.
IF they have a girl girl girl &C then a boy- that boy automatically will become the heir.

I say they make the Japan rules like that rather than no remale heir at all.

[crazychickencow]

With no real political power, monarchy is essentially ignored. I don't think they should do away with it, though because it represents history and... that one word I'm doped up on cold medicine to think of.:ON@_@: I swear I had a coherent thought for a moment. *goes back to laughing at jell-o*

[faraithi]

you'd probably have to look into how relevant kojiki and nihon-shoki are among the modern population. both trace legitimacy of the emperor (gender biased) from the succession of heirs from the gods, and japan's own version of the imperial court did historically unify the archipelago before it became "the japan" that it is (although to what extent, versus military control, is debatable).

i don't think that gender is necessarily important--i'm sure there are females that could competently manage any nation's issues just as well as, if not better than, a male counterpart. but it's my opinion that the identity of japan is to an extent dependant on the legitimacy traced through kojiki, and while japan can be quite a progressive society (at least following WW2), i don't see modifications to the seat of the emperor being made any time soon.

Japan used to have a Queen in the 3rd century AD:

Himiko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himiko

As far as any monarchy in any country is concerned, I'm in favour of it as long as the monarchy has real power, without abusing it, of course.

[ctz]

Perhaps the whole Idol industry would be destroyed if there was a female monarch.

Or they could combine finding an empress and idol industry: The IMPERIAL LOVE 127th AUDITION... for girls aged 15-22, good looks, can sing... real ace... Empress would be a superb idol!

[faraithi]

Perhaps the whole Idol industry would be destroyed if there was a female monarch.

Actually, the idols in the J-Idol Industry are already empresses/queens of their fans' hearts; in Japan, if I'm not wrong, during their heyday, Ayu, Aibon, and Gottsan were such queens!

But seriously, in the modern world, there seems to be no country with an absolute monarch with any real power, with the power to have the final say and make the final decision if there's lack of concensus or if there's chaos.

[Kei]

Is that monarchy doing harm to Japan? I agree that, from our point of view, the part about the male succession should be revised, but why do away with monarchy? How about British monarchy? Monaco? Denmark, Norway, Netherlands?

I don't know about Denmark, Norway or the Netherlands, but the Monaco royal family are the ones making the ultimate decisions in Monaco.