Japan's Prince Hisahito is the first male royal to reach adulthood in 40 years. He may be the last

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Prince Hisahito is the first male royal to reach adulthood in 40 years. Many people in Japan worry he could be the last.

The elaborate palace rituals to formally recognize Hisahito as an adult on Saturday are a reminder of the bleak outlook for the world's oldest monarchy. Much of this comes down to its male-only succession policy and dwindling numbers.

Hisahito is second in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne and is likely to become emperor one day. After him, however, there is nobody left, leaving the Imperial family with a dilemma over whether they should reverse a 19th century ruling that abolished female succession.

A freshman at Tsukuba University near Tokyo, Hisahito studies biology and enjoys playing badminton. He is especially devoted to dragonflies and has co-authored an academic paper on a survey of the insects on the grounds of his Akasaka estate in Tokyo.

In his debut news conference in March, the prince said he hopes to focus his studies on dragonflies and other insects, including ways to protect bug populations in urban areas.

Hisahito was born on Sept. 6, 2006, and is the only son of Crown Prince Akishino, the heir to the throne, and his wife, Crown Princess Kiko. He has two older sisters, the popular Princess Kako and former Princess Mako, whose marriage to a nonroyal required her to abandon her royal status.

Hisahito’s coming-of-age rituals fell a year after he turned 18, reaching legal adulthood, because he wanted to concentrate on college entrance exams.

Hisahito is the nephew of Emperor Naruhito, who has one child, a daughter, Princess Aiko. Hisahito's father, Akishino, the Emperor's younger brother, was the last male to reach adulthood in the family, in 1985.

Hisahito is the youngest of the 16-member all-adult Imperial Family. He and his father are the only two male heirs who are younger than Naruhito. Prince Hitachi, former Emperor Akihito's younger brother, is third in line to the throne but is already 89.

The shortage of male successors is a serious concern for the monarchy, which historians say has lasted for 1,500 years. The issue reflects Japan’s rapidly aging and shrinking population.

Japan traditionally had male emperors, but female succession was permitted. There have been eight female emperors, including the most recent Gosakuramachi who ruled from 1762 to 1770. None of them, however, produced an heir during their reign.

Succession was legally limited to males by law for the first time in 1889 under the prewar Constitution. The postwar 1947 Imperial House Law, which largely preserves conservative prewar family values, also only allows male succession.

But experts say the male-only succession system is structurally flawed and only worked previously thanks to the help of concubines who, until about 100 years ago, produced imperial children.

Hugely popular Princess Aiko, the only daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, cannot be her father’s successor, even though she is supported by much of the public as a future monarch.

To address succession concerns, the government compiled a proposal to allow a female emperor in 2005. But Hisahito's birth quickly changed the tide and nationalists turned against the proposal.

A separate, largely conservative panel of experts in January 2022 recommended calling on the government to maintain its male-line succession while allowing female members to keep their royal status after marriage and continue their official duties. The conservatives also proposed adopting male descendants from now-defunct distant royal families to continue the male lineage.

But the debate has stalled over the question of whether to give royal status to nonroyals who marry princesses and their children.

The stalled debate has forced Hisahito to carry the burden of the Imperial Family's fate by himself, former Imperial Household Agency chief Shingo Haketa said in a Yomiuri newspaper article earlier this year. “The fundamental question is not whether to allow male or female succession line but how to save the monarchy.”

The conservative Yomiuri issued its own proposal in May, calling for an urgent revision to the Imperial House Law to give royal status to husbands and children of princesses and allow women to succeed the throne. It called on the parliament to “responsibly reach a conclusion on the crisis surrounding the state and the symbol of the unity of the people.”

Saturday's ritual for Hisahito started at his family residence, with him appearing in a tuxedo to receive a crown to be delivered by a messenger from Naruhito.

In a main ritual at the Imperial Palace, attended by other royal members and top government officials, he wore traditional attire with a beige-colored robe that symbolized his pre-adulthood status. His headcover was replaced with the crown, a black adult “kanmuri” headpiece, formalizing his coming-of-age. Hisahito bowed deeply and thanked the Emperor for the crown and his parents for hosting the ceremony and pledged to fulfil his responsibility as a royal member.

The crowned prince then changed into adult attire with black top and rode in a royal horse carriage to pray at the three shrines within the palace compound.

In the afternoon, Hisahito was to put his tuxedo back on to visit the Imperial Palace to greet Naruhito and Empress Masako, his uncle and aunt, in the prestigious Matsu-no-Ma, or pine room. In another ritual he is to receive a medal, the Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum, in a postwar tradition. He also was to greet his grandparents, Akihito and his wife, former Empress Michiko, at their palace.

In the evening, Akishino and Kiko were to host a private celebration for their son at a Tokyo hotel for their relatives.

The rituals also include his visits early next week to Ise, Japan's top Shinto shrine, the mausoleum of the mythical first emperor Jinmu in Nara, as well as that of his late great-grandfather, wartime emperor Hirohito, in the Tokyo suburbs. He will also have lunch with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and other dignitaries Wednesday.

Japanese Prince Hisahito is seen in ceremonial attire during his coming-of-age rites in the Imperial Palace on his 19th birthday in Tokyo on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japanese Prince Hisahito, son of Crown Prince Akishino, wearing ancient ceremonial costume, leaves for a ceremony by a carriage at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025 as he celebrated his 19th birthday and attended the coming-of-age ceremony at the palace. (Yoshikazu Tsuno/Pool Photo via AP)

Japanese Prince Hisahito is seen in ceremonial attire during his coming-of-age rites in the Imperial Palace on his 19th birthday in Tokyo on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japanese Prince Hisahito, son of Crown Prince Akishino, wearing ancient ceremonial costume, leaves for a ceremony by a carriage at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025 as he celebrated his 19th birthday and attended the coming-of-age ceremony at the palace. (Yoshikazu Tsuno/Pool Photo via AP)

Japan's Prince Hisahito is seen in traditional attire inside a horse-drawn carriage as he leaves the Imperial Palace after attending his coming-of-age ceremony to be recognized as an adult, on his 19th birthday in Tokyo, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (David Mareuil/Pool Photo via AP)

Japan's Prince Hisahito, in traditional attire, is seen inside a horse-drawn carriage as he leaves the Imperial Palace after attending his coming-of-age ceremony to be recognized as an adult, on his 19th birthday in Tokyo, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (David Mareuil/Pool Photo via AP)

Japan's Princess Aiko, left, and Princess Kako attend an event at an imperial wild duck preserve in Ichikawa, Chiba prefecture, Japan on Feb. 14, 2025. (Daiki Katagiri/Kyodo News via AP)

FILE - Japan's Prince Hisahito, center, accompanied by his parents Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko pose for media after his graduation ceremony of a primary school affiliated with Ochanomizu University in Tokyo on March 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)

FILE - This photo provided by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan shows Prince Hisahito, Emperor Naruhito's nephew, posing for a photograph in the garden of the Akasaka imperial property residence in Tokyo on Aug. 7, 2022. (The Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP, File)

FILE - In this photo released by Imperial Household Agency of Japan, Japan's Emperor Naruhito, seated third from left, and Empress Masako, seated third from right, pose with their family members for a family photo session for the New Year, at their residence in Tokyo on Dec. 12, 2019. Imperial family members are, front left to right, Empress Emerita Michiko, Emperor Emeritus Akihito, Naruhito, Masako, Crown Prince Akishino, and Crown Princess Kiko, and, back from left to right, Princess Mako, Princess Aiko, Prince Hisahito, and Princess Kako. (Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP, File)

Japan's Prince Hisahito, nephew of Emperor Naruhito, attends his first press conference to commemorate his coming-of-age at the Akasaka Estate residence in Tokyo on March 3, 2025. (Japan Pool/Kyodo News via AP)

BEIJING (AP) — Breaking with the United States, Canada has agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.

Carney made the announcement after two days of meetings with Chinese leaders. He said there would be an initial cap of 49,000 vehicles on Chinese EV exports to Canada, growing to 70,000 over five years. China will reduce its tariff on canola seeds, a major Canadian export, from about 84% to about 15%, he told reporters.

“It has been a historic and productive two days,” Carney said, speaking outside against the backdrop of a traditional pavilion and a frozen pond at a Beijing park. “We have to understand the differences between Canada and other countries, and focus our efforts to work together where we’re aligned.”

Earlier Friday, he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged to improve relations between their two nations after years of acrimony.

Xi told Carney in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People that he is willing to continue working to improve ties, noting that talks have been underway on restoring and restarting cooperation since the two held an initial meeting in October on the sidelines of a regional economic conference in South Korea.

“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China–Canada relations toward improvement,” China's top leader said.

Carney, the first Canadian prime minister to visit China in eight years, said better relations would help improve a global governance system that he described as “under great strain.”

He called for a new relationship “adapted to new global realities” and cooperation in agriculture, energy and finance.

Those new realities reflect in large part the so-called America-first approach of U.S. President Donald Trump. The tariffs he has imposed have hit both the Canadian and Chinese economies. Carney, who has met with several leading Chinese companies in Beijing, said ahead of his trip that his government is focused on building an economy less reliant on the U.S. at what he called “a time of global trade disruption.”

A Canadian business owner in China called Carney's visit game-changing, saying it re-establishes dialogue, respect and a framework between the two nations.

“These three things we didn’t have,” said Jacob Cooke, the CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, which helps exporters navigate the Chinese market. “The parties were not talking for years.”

Canada had followed the U.S. in putting tariffs of 100% on EVs from China and 25% on steel and aluminum under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Carney’s predecessor.

China responded by imposing duties of 100% on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood. It added a 75.8% tariff on canola seeds last August. Collectively, the import taxes effectively closed the Chinese market to Canadian canola, an industry group has said. Overall, China's imports from Canada fell 10.4% last year to $41.7 billion, according to Chinese trade data.

China is hoping Trump’s pressure tactics on allies such as Canada will drive them to pursue a foreign policy that is less aligned with the United States. The U.S. president has suggested Canada could become America's 51st state.

Carney departs China on Saturday and visits Qatar on Sunday before attending the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland next week. He will meet business leaders and investors in Qatar to promote trade and investment, his office said.

Associated Press business writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, arrives to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, Pool)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)