House of Representatives Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga on Friday expressed a wish to quickly finalize measures to address a decrease in imperial family members during the current parliamentary session ending in June.

The Lower House head stated his view at a meeting held by the leaders and vice leaders of both chambers of the Diet for representatives of ruling and opposition parties to resume their discussions on the imperial family reform measures.

Nukaga said he hopes that the discussions will focus on two options proposed by a government panel of experts — allowing female members to retain their imperial family status even after marriage with commoners, and adopting male members in the paternal line of former imperial family branches to give them royal status.

But it is unclear whether an agreement can be reached among the parties because there remain gaps between their views.

In an interim report released in September last year, the Lower House speaker and the Upper House president concluded that "a general consensus has been reached" over the idea of maintaining the imperial family status of female members after marriage.

But opinions are divided over whether to give such status to their spouses and children. Regarding the treatment of members of former imperial family branches, the report only said that there are both pros and cons.

The talks between the ruling and opposition sides began in May last year. They will meet multiple times in February and March this year for further discussions.