TOKYO: Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary HAYASHI Yoshimasa urged a UN panel on Wednesday to withdraw its call for a revision of Japan’s Imperial House Law.

The move came after the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women released a report including the recommendation.

The recommendation was “very regrettable,” Hayashi told a press conference. “We strongly protested to the committee and demanded the deletion (of the recommendation),” the top government spokesman added.

In the report, the UN panel said the Japanese law, which allows only male descendants from the paternal line of the Imperial Family to become Emperor, is “contrary to the object and purpose of the Convention (on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women).”

“Succession to the Imperial throne is a matter that affects the foundations of the nation, and it is inappropriate for the committee to take up the Imperial House Law in light of the purpose of the convention,” Hayashi said.

Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters the same day that discussions on how to maintain the Imperial line “must be expedited” but are “not something that should be directed by the United Nations.”

Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) head Nobuyuki Baba said that the panel’s recommendation was “incomprehensible.”

Democratic Party for the People chief Yuichiro Tamaki said whether to revise the Imperial House Law “should be decided by our country according to our will.”

As the UN panel also called for a law revision for introducing a selective dual surname system for married couples in Japan, Hayashi said, “We will respond appropriately based on opinions from various levels of the public and parliamentary discussions.”

Jiji Press