A government panel holds its first meeting on the Imperial succession issue.

The panel will submit a report on the issue to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in the fall.

"We have to study how to stably maintain the succession into the future given the current situation of the Imperial family," Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masaaki Yamazaki said.

The panel members include Itsuo Sonobe, a former Supreme Court justice, Teijiro Furukawa, a former deputy chief Cabinet secretary, Sadako Ogata, president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency and former U.N. high commissioner for refugees, and Hiroshi Okuda, the Nippon Keidanren chairman.

Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, president of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and former president of the University of Tokyo, is likely to be chosen to chair the panel, according to government sources.

The panel is expected to discuss whether a firstborn girl should have priority in succession over an eldest son. Debate on this issue will take into account the possibility that Crown Princess Masako may give birth to a boy who would become Princess Aiko's younger brother.

The Japan Times Weekly: Jan. 29, 2005
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