根據日本的『皇室典範』，只有皇室男子可以繼承皇位。不過在皇太子唯一的女兒愛子公主誕生後，許多日本人民卻希望她在未來能夠繼位為日本天皇，又加上日本皇室產生繼承危機，由政府所任命的委員會在2005年向小泉首相提出了建議。而根據此一建議，在修改『皇室典範』後，女性應可以繼承皇位。然而對此改變，卻也引起了激烈反彈。雖然日本歷史上亦曾出現過八位女皇，但是彼等不是先皇遺孀就是終身未嫁，所以繼位上從未轉移到母系上。換句話說，日本史上125位天皇都是出自同一男性子孫。不過此一爭論卻在當今天皇的次子秋篠宮的紀子王妃宣佈懷孕後，突然停止。只是就算她生育男孩，此一問題也並未解決。所以本文試著研究日本的天皇制度，並闡釋為何女性無法繼承皇位。
This paper intends to study the emperor system and explain why females can not succeed to the throne in Japan. According to the Imperial House Law, only males in the royal family can succeed to the throne in Japan. However, because of the birth of Princess Aiko, the only daughter of the Crown Prince, many Japanese want her to be the empress in the future. A government-appointed advisory council submitted its final recommendations to Prime Minister Koizumi in 2005. It suggested females should inherit the throne by amending the Imperial House Law. Which caused fierce opposition. Although there have been eight female emperors in Japanese history, all of these have been widows or who remained single throughout their lives. In other words, all 125 sovereigns in Japanese history have been descended from the same male. The debates abruptly stopped with the announcement that Princess Kiko, consort of the emperor's younger son, Prince Akishino, was pregnant. However, even if she gives birth to a boy, the problem will not have been settled.
