Japan: Prince Hisahito becomes first male royal family member to reach adulthood in four decades

Japan’s Prince Hisahito turned 18 on Friday and became the first male member of the royal family to reach adulthood in almost four decades.

It is a significant development for the Japan’s royal family that has ruled for more than a millennium.

Hisahito is the youngest of the 17-member all-adult imperial family, which currently has only four men.

Hisahito, who is expected to become the emperor of Japan one day, is the nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito.

His father Crown Prince Akishino, was the last to do so, in 1985.

According to the 1947 Imperial House Law, only a male royal member can succeed to the throne and female royal members who marry commoners lose their royal status.

The Imperial House Law largely preserves conservative pre-war family values.

Hisahito’s older cousin, Princess Aiko, the only child of Naruhito and his wife Masako, a Harvard-educated former diplomat, is considered the people’s favorite as the future empress. But the law forbids her to take over that role.

Born on September 6, 2006, Prince Hisahito is a third-year student and is attending Senior High School at Otsuka, University of Tsukuba.

“Right now I would like to cherish my remaining time in high school," Hisahito said in a statement.

He has long been interested in insects and even co-authored an academic paper on a survey of dragonflies on the grounds of his Akasaka estate in Tokyo, the statement said.

The Imperial Household Agency also said that Prince Hisahito's Coming-of-Age ceremony and accompanying press conference will be scheduled for spring 2025 or later, following his high school graduation.

In January 2022, a government-commissioned panel of experts had recommended that the government propose allowing female members to keep royal status after marriage as a way to prevent the declining population within the imperial family, while adopting male descendants from now-defunct royal families to continue the male lineage with distant relatives.

According to the succession chart, Naruhito is the current emperor. His brother Akishino is second in line. Hisahito, the son of Akishino, comes next.