Japan's parliament on Friday revised the Imperial House Law to address the issue of the shrinking royal family, while retaining the long-standing male-only succession system, despite public support for female emperors.
The first substantive revision to the 1947 law introduced two changes - permitting the adoption of males aged 15 and over from former imperial branch families descended from emperors through the male line and allowing female members to retain their imperial status even after marrying commoners.
