Japan's upper house of parliament has voted to pass controversial revisions to a law governing who can inherit the throne in the world's oldest continuous hereditary monarchy, just days after the lower house of parliament voted it through.

The revision's stated aim is to secure the number of imperial family members, and maintain their public duties and activities, as the family's ranks dwindle and age.

But to critics, the revision has another "very clear objective: to prevent the future emergence of a female emperor," says Seiichiro Noboru, a former Japanese diplomat with ties to the imperial family.

https://www.npr.org/2026/07/17/g-s1-133536/japan-law-male-heirs-imperial-throne