A new poll shows most Japanese support a woman taking the throne, even as the prime minister moves to preserve male-line succession
4-MIN READ4-MIN ListenJulian RyallPublished: 8:00am, 16 Apr 2026Japan’s public has once again signalled strong support for a woman ascending to the Chrysanthemum Throne, but Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the country’s first female leader, is pushing in a different direction.A Mainichi newspaper poll published on Wednesday found that 61 per cent of respondents believed the law should be changed to allow a woman to become emperor, against just 9 per cent who said the throne should remain reserved for a man.
The emperor is defined in the 1947 constitution as the “symbol of the state and the unity of the people”, but succession under the separate Imperial House Law is restricted to male descendants in the male line.
The new survey reinforces a pattern in polling over the past decade or so, during which support for allowing a woman to ascend the throne has repeatedly remained high, but also lays bare a widening gap between voters and a government that appears set on preserving male-only succession.
Any hope that Takaichi might use the moment to open the way to a female emperor appears to have faded quickly. Instead, the staunch conservative has signalled that she wants to shore up the existing system by expanding its pool of male heirs.
Speaking at a convention of senior members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Tokyo on Sunday, Takaichi said she was determined to accelerate discussions on changes to the Imperial House Law, saying they were “urgently needed”.
