Joy, Relief in Japan Over Princess’ Baby

By JOSEPH COLEMAN

TOKYO – Japan’s Princess Kiko gave birth Wednesday to the royal family’s first male heir in four decades, easing a succession crisis and quelling an emotional political debate over whether to allow women on the throne.

Kiko, 39, underwent a Caesarean section at a Tokyo hospital, bearing a boy who is third in line to the throne after Crown Prince Naruhito and Kiko’s husband, Prince Akishino, 40. The baby’s name was to be announced next Tuesday.

The arrival of a new prince – Emperor Akihito’s first grandson – defused a succession dilemma in the coming generation of the royal family, which traces its roots back some 1,500 years.

The news was cheered by many Japanese, who still maintain an enduring respect for the imperial family more than 60 years after the late Emperor Hirohito renounced his status as a divinity at the end of World War II.

Newspapers ran out extra editions, supporters gathered outside the hospital where Kiko gave birth and TV networks ran continuous coverage of the delivery and profiles on the princess and her courtship with Akishino.

The closely watched birth was also likely to put the brakes on a divisive debate over whether to change Japan’s 1947 imperial law to allow women to inherit the throne.

While eight women have ruled over the centuries, the last taking the throne in 1762, they served mostly as placeholders until a suitable male could be found, and none passed the crown to their offspring.

The boy, the first royal male heir born since Akishino in 1965, was born at 8:27 a.m. Wednesday and weighed 5 lbs. 10 oz., the Imperial Household Agency said. Both child and mother were in good condition.

The birth took place under intense public scrutiny and expectation. News of Kiko’s pregnancy and delivery date led to rallies in shares of baby-care companies amid hopes that other Japanese would be inspired to have more children.

"That’s great," gushed Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi when he heard the news.

"Not only the members of the imperial family, but all the people of Japan must have felt happy" at the news, he told reporters later in the day.

Kiko, who already has two daughters, was hospitalized on Aug. 16 after showing symptoms of partial placenta previa, in which part of the placenta drops too low in the uterus. Officials, however, said the pregnancy was never in jeopardy.

The birth set in motion a cycle of ancient imperial ceremonies. On Wednesday afternoon, for instance, an emissary from Akihito was delivering a special sword to Akishino’s residence as a symbol of protection for the new infant.

The gender of the baby had been a closely guarded palace secret, though Japanese tabloids had speculated the child would be a boy – the hope of conservative Japanese who want to preserve the male-only imperial line.

Doctors said at a news conference that Akishino and Kiko did not know the baby’s gender until the birth and that they had told the doctors they did not wish to know beforehand.

"I’m from the old generation, so I think it’s better for a boy to become the emperor," said Chioko Hasegawa, a 74-year-old cleaning woman, as she worked in central Tokyo.

The birth follows a tumultuous decade for Japan’s royal family, which is still highly respected by the public and is largely shielded from view by the secretive Imperial Household Agency.

Emperor Akihito’s eldest son, Naruhito, 46, has a daughter – Aiko, 4 – with his wife Masako, but the couple have no sons.

The imperative of producing a male heir may have taken its toll on the Harvard-educated Masako, 42, who gave up a career in diplomacy to marry Naruhito. She suffered a miscarriage in 1999 before Aiko was born and has struggled with stress-induced depression in recent years.

The possibility there would be no male in the next generation had prompted serious discussion about allowing a female to assume the throne and pass it on to her offspring.

Such a step was recommended by a high-level panel late last year, and Koizumi vowed to submit a reform bill to parliament.

But conservatives mounted a vociferous offensive against the plan, arguing that allowing the daughter of an emperor to pass the throne to her child would destroy a precious Japanese tradition.

Opponents suggested the revival of concubines to produce imperial heirs, or the reinstatement of the aristocracy – banned after World War II – to widen the pool of imperial male candidates.

The debate was so fractious that Koizumi shelved the reform after Kiko’s pregnancy was announced in February, and it was likely there would be no rush to return to the fray following Wednesday’s birth.

"I see the debate stopping completely for a while," said Koichi Yokota, a constitutional law expert at Ryutsu Keizai University in Ibaraki. "It’s a divisive issue, and not something the new prime minister will want to tackle right away."

In addition, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, a conservative who is widely expected to replace Koizumi as premier later this month, suggested Wednesday he was less enthusiastic for reform than the prime minister, calling for caution.

"Reforming the Imperial Household Law is an important issue that concerns the stability of the imperial family," he told reporters. "We must carry on the debate in a careful and calm manner."

Even Koizumi said a bill to revise the Imperial Household Law will not likely be submitted soon.

"It’s not something that we will submit to the next year’s parliament session," he said. "It’s better to watch the situation calmly for a while," he told reporters.

Some Japanese, however, argued that the reform debate should continue, since the birth of a single boy simply postpones the question.

"There is no need to stick to a male heir. Regardless of gender, whoever is next in line should take the throne," said Mai Yanagida, 20. "I think it’s fine if Princess Aiko becomes the next empress."

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Associated Press writers Hiroko Tabuchi and Kana Inagaki contributed to this report.