“Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “As a young member of the imperial family, I am determined to fulfil my role,” Hisahito said in March. Traditionalists have asserted that the “unbroken imperial line” of male succession is the foundation of Japan, and major changes would divide the nation. Under the postwar constitution, the royal family holds no political power. View image in fullscreen The tradition that only a man can carry on the Japanese imperial line goes back 2,600 years, according to legend.