Very disappointed to read this.
The irony is that Japan has already been graced by a handful (five? six?) of empresses regnant, the most recent having lived in the eighteenth century (during the Tokugawa shogunate). Japan is setting itself apart (in a most unappealing way) from so many of the other monarchies of the present world in barring females from the succession; in fact, many of the most progressive monarchies (such as The Netherlands and Sweden) now have succession laws that enable first-born children to inherit the throne regardless of sex.
Ah well...I'm still a republican at heart (that's with a little 'r', mind you
).
