It all comes down to this: we must not be deceived by the mass media.
What’s crucial is that more people come to properly understand the meaning of imperial succession through the male line and raise their voices.
October 29, 2019
The following is a re-post of the chapter I originally published on June 24.
The reason is that the Japanese people must now learn from the insights of Ms. Kumiko Takeuchi, a world-renowned ethologist and graduate of Kyoto University.
◎The Y-Chromosome Imperial Succession Theory
Fukada:
Still, Ms. Ueno’s head is far too preoccupied with “sex.”
She goes around bringing up pads and tampons with male students! (laughs)
Following her infamous “Say ‘pussy’” remark, it’s one humiliating stunt after another.
Is that really supposed to be scholarship?
Takeuchi:
In a 2012 tweet, Ms. Ueno claimed that “The Imperial Household Law violates the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.”
Fukada:
She’s objecting to male-line succession.
Takeuchi:
But it was never perpetuated through gender discrimination.
It’s about continuing the Y chromosome.
When reproductive cells are formed, females have “XX” chromosomes that form a pair, so a phenomenon called “crossing over” occurs during meiosis.
The chromosomes break at random points and swap genetic material before continuing.
However, since “XY” are not a pair, the male Y chromosome is usually inherited as-is without alteration.
To put it simply, the current Emperor has inherited the very same Y chromosome passed down from Emperor Jimmu with almost no change.
While genes on other chromosomes disappear after just a few generations, the Y chromosome, when passed down through the male line, is preserved virtually unchanged for eternity.
Fukada:
I see, that’s what it means!
Takeuchi:
The Japanese imperial family is the only one in the world that has consistently preserved the same Y chromosome.
Even if you look at all the world’s royal families, nothing like it exists.
That’s why they’re the object of so much envy.
The media often promote the idea of a female emperor or matrilineal succession, but that’s nonsense.
Fukada:
Yes, there have certainly been empresses in the past.
Empress Suiko, Empress Jitō, Empress Genmei, and Empress Kōken (Shōtoku) were among them.
But they served only as interim rulers until the next male-line emperor took the throne.
Takeuchi:
During times of fierce power struggles over succession, unmarried women were made emperor to stabilize the court.
Or they served as placeholders until the crown prince came of age.
But never in history did a female emperor marry a man without imperial blood—that is, someone without the imperial Y chromosome—and have their child ascend the throne.
Fukada:
That would never happen in European royal families.
Takeuchi:
In the British royal family, for example, when a queen reigns, her son becomes the next king.
The son carries the Y chromosome of the queen’s husband—not the royal line—so the Y line gets interrupted.
The dynasty name also changes.
When Queen Victoria died and her son Edward VII ascended the throne, the dynasty changed to “Saxe-Coburg and Gotha” after Prince Albert’s German lineage.
But during World War I, when Britain and Germany became enemies, it was changed to “Windsor,” after the royal castle.
This shows that, even if unconsciously, they knew the Y line had been usurped.
Fukada:
Now is exactly the time to reconsider this through the lens of “Y-line imperial succession.”
Takeuchi:
We must enthrone males who possess the imperial Y chromosome.
Currently, the only heirs are Crown Prince Akishino and Prince Hisahito.
After the war, GHQ abolished 11 imperial branches.
Among them, only four families with the Y chromosome remain.
Restoring these branches is one option.
I heard from a certain Diet member that if public support for reviving the old imperial branches or amending the Imperial Household Law to allow adoption—so that existing imperial families could adopt males from former branches—increases, there are plenty of ways to make it happen.
In short, what’s most important is that more people understand the significance of imperial succession through the male line and speak up—without being deceived by the media.
