Japan PM Tables Succession Bill

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday hinted he would shelve legislation to let women ascend Japan's imperial throne, reversing earlier comments that the proposal was still alive.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Koizumi said he "may not stick to" plans for an early submission of the bill.

"Circumstances have changed," he said, apparently referring to this week's announcement of Princess Kiko's pregnancy, which raised the possibility of a new male heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne.

The news has taken the steam out of Koizumi's drive to let empresses reign to avert a succession crisis in the royal family. No male heir to the throne has been born since 1965.

Koizumi, who had earlier called for quick approval of the law change, has been rapidly backing away from that position since the pregnancy announcement.

"I don't think the issue should trigger political conflict," he said earlier Friday, after several government ministers backed delaying action on the bill until the gender of Kiko's child is determined. The birth is reportedly due in September or October.

"Depending on the outcome (of the pregnancy), I would expect an argument that there is no need to change the law," Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura said Friday.

Koizumi has reportedly told ruling party leaders he'd prefer to wait until the change can gain broader support in Parliament.

Kiko is married to Prince Akishino, Emperor Akihito's second son and second in line to the throne. They have two daughters, but no sons.

Akishino's brother, Crown Prince Naruhito, has a daughter with Crown Princess Masako, but no other children. Masako's enduring bout with a nervous disorder has dimmed prospects for the couple having more.

A Koizumi-appointed government panel recommended in November that a 1947 law be changed to let an emperor's first child — boy or girl — to take the throne, opening the door for the first reigning empress since the 1700s.

The proposal gained wide public support. But many conservative academics and lawmakers, including members of Koizumi's Cabinet, have urged him to slow down for more debate before changing a long-standing tradition.

Opponents have even suggested bringing back concubines to help provide male descendants, or reinstating the aristocracy — banned after World War II — to increase candidates for the throne.

Changing the law to allow a reining empress would put Naruhito and Masako's daughter Aiko, 4, second in line to the throne, with Akishino slipping behind her.

If the law remains unchanged and Kiko has a boy, the succession line would run from Naruhito to Akishino to the boy.

By Mari Yamaguchi