Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujimura

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: I believe that a one-page document has been distributed to you concerning the schedule and other matters relating to the expert hearings on the Imperial Household system. The second hearing is scheduled to take place on March 29, and as has been previously announced, at this hearing we will be seeking opinions from Dr. Masayuki Yamauchi, Professor at the Graduate School of The University of Tokyo, and Dr. Makoto Oishi, Professor at the Graduate School of Kyoto University. It has been decided that the third hearing will take place on April 10, in which we will seek opinions from Ms. Yoshiko Sakurai, a journalist, and Dr. Akira Momochi, Professor at Nihon University. The fourth hearing is scheduled to take place on April 23, in which we will hear the opinions of Dr. Shinichi Ichimura, Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University, and Dr. Hidehiko Kasahara, Professor at Keio University.

The schedule and other matters relating to the fifth hearing and thereafter will be informed to you when they are decided.

For further details about this matter, please direct your questions to the Office for the Preparation of the Revision of the Imperial House Act within the Cabinet Secretariat.

Q&As

REPORTER: You have just announced the schedule and the people to be interviewed in the third and fourth expert hearings on the Imperial Household system. Could you tell us briefly about the reasons behind selecting these four people and what themes you will be focusing on when they come to the hearing?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: When considering the Imperial Household system, it will be necessary to gain the broad understanding and support of the people of Japan and also ensure that considerations are based firmly on the Constitution and laws of Japan, as well as our history, tradition and culture. The selection of experts for the hearings is being made with these prerequisites in mind, and we are therefore seeking to select people from a wide range of fields and areas of expertise. The experts who will be invited to the third and fourth hearings that I have just announced have been selected from among people who have specific proposals for consideration regarding this issue, which are based on the basic concept for considerations I have just mentioned. On top of that, the selections for the third and fourth hearings were made based on the consent of the people concerned and in view of their schedules.

REPORTER: On the subject of the expert hearings, you originally announced that these would be held with a frequency of one or two each month, however in February and March there was only one hearing each month. Two hearings are now scheduled for April, so do you expect that the same number of hearings will take place from May onwards?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: The schedule for May and thereafter has not yet been decided and I will announce it to you when it has been confirmed.

(Abridged)