Japanese Princess Aiko (L), accompanied by her mother Crown Princess Masako (R), September last year. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided to scrap a government panel's proposal to let women ascend to the Japanese throne, according to a newspaper report.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided toscrapa government panel's proposal to let womenascend to the Japanese throne, according to a newspaper report.
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Abe would still consider amending the rules forroyal successionas the world's oldest monarchy faces a crisis due to its male-only succession tradition, the conservative Sankei Shimbun said without citing sources.
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It said the decision by Abe, who had been wary of letting women take the Chrysanthemum Throne, was made possible with the September birth of Prince Hisahito -- the first boy born to the imperial family since 1965.
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The birth was a dream come true for conservatives, and led then-prime minister Junichiro Koizumi to suspend widely popular plans to introduce female succession.
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Crown Princess Masako, a former career woman who makes few appearances due to the stress of adapting to palace life, has only one child from 13 years of marriage -- four-year-old Princess Aiko.
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Traditionalists believe the imperial family has descended from a male line dating back more than 2,600 years. Historians agree thelineagedates back from at least the sixth century AD.

（Agencies）

Vocabulary:

scrap：veto（否決、禁止）

ascend to the Japanese throne：繼承日本皇位

royal succession：皇位繼承

lineage：直系后代世襲

（英語點津陳蓓編輯）