The original of the revised Imperial House Law is released, and it is revealed that it was handled with bare hands.
Quick Look
- The original copy of the revised Imperial House Law, which will come into effect on October 24th, has been released at the National Archives of Japan, and it has become clear that handling it with bare hands is the best way to preserve the material.
- This amendment, the first full-scale reform since 1947, focuses on preserving the status of female members of the imperial family and adopting male members of former imperial families.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
皇室典範は1947年に施行され、今回の改正はそれ以降初めての本格的な改正となる。改正の柱は女性皇族が結婚後も皇族の身分を保持できることと、旧宮家の男系男子を養子として皇族に迎えることである。
The revised Imperial House Law will go into effect on October 24th, with the two pillars being that ``female members of the imperial family will be able to maintain their status as members of the imperial family even after marriage'' and ``male-lineage males from former imperial families will be adopted into the imperial family.'' As this is the first full-scale revision since its enactment in 1947, we have been allowed to interview and photograph the controversial original of the Imperial House Law. Because it is a historically valuable official document, we can see that there was a lot of effort put into preserving and handling it.
A room at the National Archives of Japan (Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo), near the Imperial Palace, in late August. Once preparations were made for the shoot, public relations officer Eri Sakurai gently placed a white envelope wrapped in bubble wrap on the table.
When you put on gloves, your fingertips...
Valuable documents such as the original copy of the Imperial House Law are not accessible to anyone other than staff. When I asked Sakurai, who was opening the envelope with his bare hands, ``Aren't you wearing white gloves?'' he replied, ``Actually, it's said that the best way to handle materials is to touch them with your bare hands.''
Old and deteriorated paper materials are fragile and easily tear. Wearing gloves dulls the sensitivity in your fingertips, making it difficult to apply the correct amount of force and potentially damaging the materials. Sakurai says, ``I make sure to wash my hands thoroughly with soap before touching the materials.''
Inside the envelope was an original copy of the Imperial House Law wrapped in thin white acid-free paper. It was a B5-sized booklet wrapped in metal fittings, and when the single paper cover was turned over, a sepia-toned proclamation was revealed, giving the impression that it had been around 80 years since its implementation.
Emperor's signature and seal "Original signature"
Open Questions
- 改正皇室典範の施行後、実際に旧宮家の男系男子が養子として迎えられるケースは生じるか
- 女性皇族が結婚後も皇族身分を保つ場合、その子供の皇位継承権はどうなるか
- 今回公開された原本以外に、同様に歴史的価値の高い皇室関連文書はどの程度保存されているか
