Yoshinori Kobayashi accused the government of discriminating against commoners
Japan’s newly amended imperial succession law has led to a legal face-off between manga artist Yoshinori Kobayashi and the nation’s government, reported The Associated Press.
Kobayashi filed a suit in Tokyo District Court that accuses prime minister Sanae Takaichi’s government of discriminating against commoners through the new legislation. The reformed imperial succession law, which came into force on Saturday October 24, permits royals to adopt unmarried male relatives from branch families that had given up royal status in 1947.
The male relatives in question must be at least 15 years old and be descended from distant imperial relatives through an unbroken male line. While the adopted royals cannot become emperor, children they father will become part of the succession line.
Of 11 branch families that renounced royal status, 4 are still around. Per officials, these families are at least 36 generations removed from current Emperor Naruhito following their split from a common male-line ancestor 600 years previously, AP News reported.
Notably, the law, which Kobayashi called the “Aiko-sama exclusion law” in a statement published by AP News, lowers the chance that Naruhito’s daughter Princess Aiko would be able to take the throne. Under the legislation, princesses are able to maintain royal status and carry on with official duties even if they marry commoners, but their husbands and children do not become royal.
Kobayashi claimed that this arrangement breached Article 14 of Japan’s constitution, which ensures equality across “race, creed, sex, social status or family origin,” per a statement published by AP News. He said the adoption system would establish another class system of “former imperial branch family”; moreover, it undermines “the fundamental value of the constitution” and radically transforms the monarchy.
He is not the imperial succession law’s sole critic – legal experts have challenged the adoption system’s constitutionality, including legal experts on a government panel on the imperial succession, AP News reported.
Rintaro Kuramochi, Kobayashi’s lawyer, acknowledged that Kobayashi would struggle to win in court on the issue; however, it was the sole opportunity to flag the concern in Japan, which does not have a constitutional court.
Kobayashi seeks ¥1 million in damages related to his psychological suffering, given that his works are driven by his love of the Japanese monarchy, equal rights, and democratic values. The manga artist has penned books on history and monarchy.
In 2025, Kobayashi was among the supporters of Princess Aiko calling for the succession law to be amended. Takaichi has claimed that the paternal bloodline alone legitimizes the emperor.
