Women who were passed over – Japan

Japan has only known eight Empresses in their own right, but historically, the Japanese throne has always passed to descendants in the male line. Currently, Japan operates under agnatic primogeniture.

Article 2 of the Meiji Constitution, which was in force until 1947, specifically excludes female descendants from the succession. The 1889 Imperial Household Law specified that the succession would be passed down through male descendants of the imperial line, excluding female descendants from the succession. So, which were passed over? We will start from the Edo period in 1603 and will include daughters born before sons and those born from concubines.

Princess Bunchi

Princess Bunchi was born on 30 July 1619 as the first daughter of Emperor Go-Mizunoo and one of his six concubines, Yotsutsuji Yotsuko. Her elder brother, Prince Kamo, died in 1622 at the age of three. Her second and third (half-) brothers would also die young. Her fourth (half-) brother, born in 1633, eventually succeeded their father as Emperor Go-Kōmyō. Her eighth (half-)brother became Emperor Go-Sai, and her 19th (half-)brother became Emperor Reigen. Her younger (half-) sister by her father’s Empress, Imperial Princess Okiko, would be Empress Meishō, one of the eight empresses in her own right. The Princess married Takatsukasa Norihira, but they did not have children together. She died on 4 February 1697.

Princess Takako

Princess Takako was born in 1650 as the only child of Emperor Go-Kōmyō and Niwata Hideko. She died in 1725. Her father was succeeded by his younger half-brother, Emperor Go-Sai.

Princess Tomoko

Princess Tomoko was the first child and eldest daughter of Emperor Go-Sai and his wife, Princess Akiko. She was born in 1654 and died in 1686. She had a full brother, who died at the age of 20. She also had at least 15 half-brothers and 16 half-sisters, none of whom succeeded their father, as he was only Emperor as a temporary measure until his younger brother, Imperial Prince Satohito (Emperor Reigen), grew older.

Princess Akiko

Princess Akiko was born in 1700 as the eldest daughter of Emperor Higashiyama and his wife, Princess Yukiko. She married Prince Sadatake, but it is not clear if they had any children. She died in 1756. Her father was succeeded by his fifth but second surviving son (the first surviving son had become a priest), who became Emperor Nakamikado.

Princess Yoshiko

Princess Yoshiko was born on 11 March 1779 as the only child of Emperor Go-Momozono and his wife, Konoe Koreko. Her father died six months later, but not before he adopted an heir, Prince Kanehito, later Emperor Kōkaku. She married her father’s adopted heir at the age of 15. They had two sons who both died in infancy. After her husband’s death, she became a Buddhist nun. She died on 11 August 1846.

Princess Sumiko

Princess Sumiko was born on 22 February 1829 as the eldest surviving child of Emperor Ninkō and a concubine, Kanroji Kiyoko. She was engaged to her cousin, Prince Kan’in, but he died two days before their wedding. She remained unmarried. She died on 3 October 1881. Her younger half-brother succeeded their father as Emperor Kōmei.

Aiko, Princess Toshi

Aiko was born on 1 December 2001 as the only child of the future Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako. Despite calls for changing the law to include women in the line of succession when she was born, Aiko is not in the line of succession. The current Crown Prince of Japan is her uncle, Fumihito. If they marry a commoner (which they must at the moment, as there is just one prince left to marry – Aiko’s cousin, Hisahito), women from the Imperial family are required to give up their imperial titles and leave the family. This means that the Imperial family will continue to shrink in size over the following years.