J-Gov't to drop plan to allow for female monarch

The government is set to drop its plan to review imperial succession rules that bar women from succeeding to the throne, given the birth last year of the first boy in 41 years to the world's oldest hereditary monarchy, the Sankei Shimbun reported Wednesday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is paying little attention to a proposal that a government panel made in 2005 that included a recommendation to revise the Imperial House Law in order to give priority to firstborns, regardless of gender, the national daily said.

But the newspaper also said the government will continue necessary discussions on whether Japan can maintain a stable imperial succession relying only on the births of male heirs.

The panel, organized under the initiative of Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, to study ways to ensure a stable succession, was seen as paving the way for Princess Aiko, 5, the only child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, to ascend the throne.

The Imperial House Law, enacted in 1947, stipulates that only male heirs who have emperors on their father's side can ascend the imperial throne.

The Sankei said that the situation changed after Princess Kiko gave birth to a boy in September.

The boy, named Prince Hisahito, is now third in line to the throne, following Crown Prince Naruhito, 46, his uncle, and his father Prince Akishino, 41.