JAPAN: Japan's ruling party wants to revise the constitution to allow a woman to succeed to the throne and to designate officially the emperor as head of state, according to a draft proposal.
Under present law, only males can succeed to the throne, and the post-war constitution defines the emperor as a national symbol, a way of maintaining the institution but stripping it of political authority.
Until the end of the second World War, Japan's sovereign was revered as a living god and was the central figure in the state Shinto religion that helped mobilise the population in the war effort.
The current heir to the throne, Crown Prince Naruhito, and his wife, Princess Masako, have only a daughter, two-year-old Aiko. No boys have been born into any branch of the imperial family for nearly 40 years.
Few Japanese seem to oppose the idea of a reigning empress.
"I think this is probably something that most Japanese people think is good," Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters when asked about the proposal for allowing a woman emperor.
However, officially designating the emperor head of state could prove more controversial, some analysts said.
"Of course it would not be a big change, but you can say that this might strengthen nationalism in a number of areas," said Muneyuki Shindo, a politics professor at Chiba University.
According to an initial draft of revisions drawn up by a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) panel, inheritance would be dynastic, regardless of gender.
The emperor would be the "head of state of Japan, a symbol of Japanese history, tradition, culture and unity", the draft says.
The US-drafted constitution that took effect in 1947 states that the emperor "shall be the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people".
The LDP plans to finalise the outline next month and announce a final draft of revisions in November 2005, the 50th anniversary of the conservative party's founding, media said.
Debate has mounted recently over Japan's succession law, with proponents of change saying it should be brought into line with modern laws on gender equality, and noting that most European monarchies allow succession by both sexes. - (Reuters)