Jul 17, 2026 – 1.04pmTokyo | Princess Aiko is everywhere. She smiles from glossy magazine covers at railway kiosks, appears in television specials and fills the pages of weekly tabloids as Japan embarks on its most consequential debate over the future of the imperial family in decades.On paper, it is a constitutional argument about who should one day inherit the Chrysanthemum Throne. In practice, it has become a debate over whether Emperor Naruhito’s only child should be allowed to succeed him at all.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles