Who's who in the Japanese imperial family?

The current monarch of Japan is Emperor Naruhito (born in 1960). His wife Masako is the Empress of Japan and Emperor's consort. Together they oversee a royal family and a nation in transition.

In 2019, a lot changed for the Japanese royal family. Prince Naruhito (on the left) became the emperor of Japan after his father Akihito abdicated. His brother Fumihito, Crown Prince Akishino (on the right) was then declared the Crown Prince.

With Naruhito as the emperor and Fumihito as the Crown Prince, the Japanese royal family finds itself in a curious and perhaps worrying situation. The offspring of the two brothers are overwhelmingly daughters, and women are ineligible for the throne. This means that there are only three heirs left.

In fact, the only heirs right now are Fumihito himself (born in 1965), his teenage old son Hisahito (in the photo with his mom and dad), and his uncle, Masahito, Prince Hitachi, now in his late 80s.

What can we expect from the relatively new imperial family? Among its challenges is the question of women's roles in the dynasty and the rulers' communication with their people. Let's take a look at their past and then move ahead to what could come next.

In December 2023, former emperor Akihito, the father of the current Japanese emperor, reaches the respectable age of 90. The popular leader was born in Tokyo on December 23, 1933.

In this photo, the former emperor Akihito is still a young man, playing with his son. He married Michiko Shöda, the daughter of one of Japan's largest flour tradesmen, in 1959. This made Akihito the first sovereign to marry a commoner woman.

Akihito's father Hirohito had lost his divine status after Japan's defeat in World War II. For that reason, the future of the empire was uncertain. Akihito had learned English during the American occupation of Japan and studied political science. Weathering many changes, he earned the affection and respect of the Japanese people.

They had three children: Naruhito, Fumihito, and daughter Sayako.

The Emperor's daughter, Princess Sayako, renounced her title when she married a commoner in November 2005. Her husband is Yoshiki Kuroda, an official in Tokyo's Department of Urbanism.

Akihito assumed the throne on January 7, 1989 after the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito. With him began the Heisei Era. He became the 125th emperor of Japan.

Akihito underwent surgery for prostate cancer in 2003 and underwent bypass surgery in 2012. In 2016, Akihito decided to abdicate. He was the first emperor in two centuries to do so. The process took three years. In 2019, at 85, he made room for his eldest son, Naruhito.

After this unprecedented retirement of the old Emperor, a new generation stood ready to take over. Here's the current Emperor, Naruhito, with Empress Masako and their daughter Toshi Aiko.

Empress Masako is the eldest daughter of a senior diplomat and president of the International Court of Justice. She spent her childhood in Moscow, New York, and Japan. She speaks five languages.

The Empress is a very refined and sensitive woman. When she was younger, she had difficulty conceiving a son to inherit the Japanese throne and Masako suffered from stress-related illness, the BBC reports. Over the years, she recovered and became an even more beloved member of the royal family.

Masako and Naruhito's daughter Aiko was born on December 1, 2001. She is the emperor's only child. Aiko likes to play music and write poetry. Her name, written in Kanji characters, means "a person who loves others".

In April 2019, Naruhito took the throne. A new stage began in Japan, called the Reiwa Era.

As the new emperor, and also the first to arise in the 21st century, Naruhito faced a country in economic stagnation. In addition, there was a growing discussion about the role of women in the Imperial Household. And finally, in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the nation to a standstill.

Japan has excellent relations with most world leaders and has been a front runner in technology, architecture, and pop culture. In this highly modern country, the existing royal traditions may be outdated, several Japanese and international media outlets suggest.

During his first years on the throne, Naruhito had to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. He and Empress Masako were unable to travel to different corners of the country as they had intended to do. According to the Japanese Times, the couple was "struggling with their roles."

One issue, made especially clear by the pandemic's quarantine measures, was that the royal family tended to stay aloof from new media. In July 2020, The Japan Times suggested that the Imperial Household should engage more with the people through social networks.

Another issue for the imperial family in the 21st century is its perspective on women. According to Japanese tradition, female members of the royal family cannot inherit the throne. Increasingly, this rule is under fire from critics.

Naruhito only has one daughter. If the system is not reformed, the next emperor will not be Naruhito's offspring. Two other names are postulated as possible heirs: Naruhito's brother and his nephew Hisahito. Local opinion polls found some 8 out of 10 Japanese are in favor of reforming it to allow women on the throne.

He was born in November 1965. The crown prince went to Oxford to study the taxonomy of fish.

Fumihito got married in 1990 to Kiko Kawashima, whom he met in college in Japan. They have three children: Princess Mako, Princess Kako, and Prince Hisahito.

The children of Crown Prince Akishino draw the most attention of all Japanese royals. Princess Mako became a real idol in 2004 when she wore a Japanese "Sailor" school uniform. The outfit is associated in popular culture with careless, adolescent behavior. Princess Kako has also drawn a lot of attention because of her beauty and elegance. And the little prince? Well, he's the heir to the throne.

Mako is the oldest sister. She is married to Kumuro Kein. And for that, she left the imperial family, just like Sayako did.

Mako graduated from the International Christian University in Mitaka. She studied Museum Studies and Art History in the University of  Edinburgh. Before the pandemic, she traveled around the world on behalf of her family. In 2019 she visited Peru and Bolivia.

Princess Kako studied abroad, at the Unversity of Leeds, where she completed the programs of Perfoming Arts and Psychology.

Despite her popularity, no one knows anything about her love life. Perhaps the beautiful princess has a hidden romance...

Regardless of whether they marry a nobleman or a commoner, women like Aiko, Mako, and Kako cannot become empresses unless the law is changed.

So, will this then be the emperor of the future? Prince Hisahito was born in 2006 as the youngest child of the Crown Prince. He is the first male born in the imperial family since his father in 1965.

We will keep following the news from the Japanese imperial family. Who knows, they may come up with reforms and give the female heirs a shot at the throne.