Most Japanese support a proposal to allow a female emperor, but are split over whether a first-born female should succeed even if she has a younger brother.
A survey of 3,000 Japanese voters conducted Saturday and Sunday by the Yomiuri Shimbun found that 60 percent of respondents approve of having an emperor from the female line of the imperial family and 73 percent support the idea of female members of the imperial family ascending to the throne, the newspaper reported Wednesday.
However, opinion was split regarding the order of imperial succession. Forty-one percent said sons of the emperor should be given priority in succession over their sisters regardless of birth order, while 37 percent said the first-born child should succeed regardless of gender.
Advisers to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi last month recommended that women and their children be given equal rights to inherit the throne and that priority in imperial succession be given to the emperor's first-born child.
The government plans to submit a bill addressing the issue to Parliament next year, but the order of imperial succession likely will generate debate among the public, the newspaper reported.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
