社説：「女性宮家」 皇室の将来へ論議を

そのうち日本もイギリスのようにクイーン制度になるのかもしれませんね。
タイの一般家庭では父系よりも母系を重んじるようです。タイは母系社会なのです。
我が家でも、亭主関白からクイーン制度に変わってしまいました。
平和です＾＾。

（スラチャイ）

(Mainichi Japan) November 26, 2011
Discussion needed on plan to allow women to keep Imperial status after marriage
社説：「女性宮家」　皇室の将来へ論議を

In-depth discussions are needed on the proposed reform of the Imperial Household, including a system to allow women to retain their Imperial status even after marriage.
　皇族減少の懸念から「女性宮家」などが検討されようとしている。

The government is set to consider introducing houses for female members of the Imperial Family so that they can retain their Imperial status after marriage, for fear that the number of Imperial Family members would otherwise decrease.
女性皇族が結婚後も皇族にとどまり、数を維持しようというものだ。

It is a matter closely related to how to ensure stable Imperial succession.
積年の課題である皇位継承安定に密接にかかわっている。広く、建設的な論議を期待したい。

Imperial Household Agency chief Shingo Haketa has recently told Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda that the matter is of great urgency for the Imperial Household because many female members of the Imperial Family are nearing marriageable age, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura.
　藤村修官房長官によると、宮内庁の羽毛田信吾長官が先月、野田佳彦首相に対し「女性皇族が結婚に近い年齢になり、皇室の活動に緊急性の高い課題」と現況を伝えたという。

Specific actions have not been taken yet to address the issue, but Fujimura told a news conference that the government will consider the matter while taking into consideration discussions by all levels of society.
　具体的動きはまだだが、こうした制度見直しについて藤村官房長官は記者会見で「国民各層の議論を十分踏まえて検討したい」と語った。

The Imperial Household consists of Emperor Akihito and 22 other members of the Imperial Family, and six of eight unmarried female members are adults.
　現在皇室は天皇陛下と２２人の皇族から成り、８人の未婚女性のうち、６人が成人している。

The Imperial House Law stipulates that female members of the Imperial Family must leave the Imperial Household once they get married to commoners.
皇室の基本を定める皇室典範では、女性は皇族以外と結婚した場合は皇籍離脱となり、皇族ではなくなる。

The law also states that only male members of the Imperial Family in the male line can accede to the Imperial Throne.
　一方、皇位継承資格者は「男系男子」と定められ、

The order of succession to the throne is Crown Prince Naruhito, his brother Prince Akishino and Prince Hisahito. 現在その順位は皇太子さま、弟の秋篠宮さま、その長男の悠仁（ひさひと）さまと続く。

Prince Hisahito, 5, the son of Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko, is the Emperor's only grandchild who can accede to the throne.
天皇陛下の孫の世代では悠仁さまだけだ。

There have been calls for many years urging female members of the Imperial Family to retain their Imperial status after marriage for fear that Imperial succession will be unstable in the long term if the current system is retained.
　現行制度のままでは、将来長きにわたる継承は不安定にならざるを得ない。そうした中で、女性を皇族にとどめる意見は出ていた。

The previous Liberal Democratic Party-led government set up an advisory panel comprised of experts on how to ensure stable succession to the throne when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was in office.
　自民党政権の小泉純一郎首相は安定的な継承へ道筋をつけるため私的諮問機関の有識者会議を設けた。

In November 2005, the panel stated that it is extremely difficult to maintain the current system which limits those qualified to accede to the throne to male members of the Imperial Family in the male line.
０５年１１月、会議は「男系男子の皇位継承維持は極めて困難」としたうえで、

It then issued a report recommending that female Imperial Family members and their descendents be allowed to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne as long as the principle of prioritizing the eldest child in line to the throne is retained, and that women retain their Imperial status even after marriage.
女系・女性天皇を容認し「長子優先」「女性皇族は結婚後も皇族にとどまる」などとする報告を出した。

A bill to revise the Imperial House Law based on those recommendations was to be submitted to the Diet. 　そして皇室典範改正案が国会に提出されるはずだったが、

However, the recommendations were met with stiff opposition.
異論も強く、

The issue was shelved after the birth of Prince Hisahito in September 2006.
０６年９月、悠仁さまが誕生して議論は事実上棚上げになっていた。

A system under which female members of the Imperial Family would retain their Imperial status after marriage would help maintain the number of Imperial Family members to a certain level and could expand the scope of those qualified to accede to the throne.
　「女性宮家」は皇族の数を維持するとともに皇位継承の資格者を広げる可能性がある。

Needless to say, a conclusion on the issue should not be hastily drawn.
もちろん短兵急に決めることはできない。

Open public discussions and understanding are indispensable.
国民に広く開かれた論議と理解が大切だ。

The post-war system that recognizes the Emperor as a symbol of the state has been understood and loved by the public based on the philosophy that the "Imperial Household is open to the public and coexists with society." 　戦後、象徴天皇制は「開かれた皇室」「国民とともにある皇室」という理念で理解され、親しまれてきた。

Introducing a new system that matches the times would never contradict with keeping up the tradition of the Imperial Household cultivated by its long history.
長い歴史に培われた伝統を守ることと、時代とともに新しいかたちも取り入れていくことは、決して矛盾しない。

Since his enthronement, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko have actively promoted exchanges with members of the general public, and visited areas hit by serious natural disasters to cheer up victims.
　天皇陛下は即位以来、皇后さまとともに積極的に国民との交流を求め、大災害被災地を回り直接に励まされた。

The Emperor's visits to former battle sites to pay respect to war victims have shown how the Imperial Household should exist in the Heisei Era.
国内外の戦跡・戦災地への慰霊訪問も平成の新しい皇室のあり方を感じさせるものだ。

Frank and open discussion on how to ensure stable Imperial succession will be consistent with the philosophy of the modern Imperial Household.
　こうした中で、将来に向かい、安定的な皇位継承を率直に論じ合うことはむしろ理念にかなう。

It should not be an all-or-nothing approach.
　それは「全か無か」のような論議ではない。

Members of the public have a wide diversity of opinions and proposals.
さまざまな考え方や案がある。

Discussions on the issue should be mature while taking into consideration recommendations made by the government advisory panel six years ago.
６年前の有識者会議の報告も踏まえ、論議を成熟させよう。

毎日新聞　2011年11月26日　2時31分