Edited by Amy McCreedy Thernstrom, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, October, 2005

In this report, six experts from a variety of academic disciplines examine the choices and challenges of Japanese women, ranging from declining fertility and employment patterns to the difficulties of balancing work and family. A central focus is the debate over whether a female should be allowed to inherit the imperial throne, and the implications for gender equality and national pride in Japan.

The imperial throne of Japan is one of the most conservative of institutions, and throughout its legendary 2500-year history has rarely been mentioned in the same breath (much less paragraph) with terms such as “gender equality.”

But now the Chrysanthemum Throne has not produced a male heir since 1965, and faces extinction if the prohibition against a female emperor is not scrapped or modified. This crisis has sparked a lively discussion in Japan among the general public, media, and pundits over how it should be resolved.

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