Will Japan Accept a Female Monarch?

TOKYO AP Oct 25, 2005 — An advisory panel on Japan's monarchy will propose allowing women to ascend the throne, the chairman said Tuesday, in a boost to a measure that has broad support in Japan and could relieve pressure on the imperial family to produce a male heir.

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The inability of the Japanese Royal family to produce a male heir -- also, a robust male heir -- is an unspoken anxiety among the Japanese nationalist cults.

Update: Nope! Looks like the Japanese Royal establishment is clamping down on the side of absolute andrarchy

TOKYO (Reuters) - A cousin of Japan's Emperor Akihito has questioned proposals to allow a woman to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne, urging that other options such as reviving pre-war princely houses and the practice of royal concubines, should be onsidered first to maintain the male imperial line.