Japan's Crown Princess Gives Birth
It's a Heifer!
By GARY SCHAEFER, Associated Press Writer Posted on 12/01/2001 1:27:07 AM PST by Rubber Duckie
By GARY SCHAEFER, Associated Press Writer TOKYO (AP) - After more than eight years of marriage to Japan's royal heir, Crown Princess Masako gave birth to a baby girl Saturday, her first child.
According to the Imperial Household Agency, both mother and baby were in good condition. The birth occurred at 2:43 p.m. local time.
Crown Prince Naruhito said he was happy for the safe delivery, palace spokesman Hirofumi Oka added.
The birth was to be followed by a series of elaborate rituals.
Hours after the event, a palace chamberlain was to present to the newborn a specially commissioned sword with a crimson case lined with white silk and embossed with the imperial seal.
Later, when the baby is ready for its first bath, court-appointed officials in silk costumes will line up outside the bathhouse and pluck at the strings of wooden bows to ward off evil spirits.
Under postwar Japanese law, only males are allowed to assume the throne. The last reigning empress was Gosakuramachi, who ascended in 1762.
The lack of potential heirs after Naruhito has caused considerable anxiety, and prompted some to call for a revision of the law so that women can also be in line to the throne.
The imperial family hasn't had a boy since Naruhito's younger brother, Prince Akishino, was born in 1965. The last seven births, including Akishino's own two daughters, have been girls.
Naruhito, 41, is the eldest son of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. Along with Akishino, the imperial couple also has a daughter, Princess Sayako, who has yet to marry.
Masako is a former diplomat who studied at Harvard and Oxford and is fluent in five languages. Although many had hoped she would breathe some fresh air into Japan's tradition-laden imperial household, so far the princess has not changed the imperial family as much as it has changed her.
Since giving up her post at Japan's Foreign Ministry to marry Naruhito, Masako has kept a low profile. She is reserved in public and refers to him not by his name but as the prince.
Masako, who married Naruhito eight years ago, suffered a miscarriage in 1999 that was blamed by some commentators on a media frenzy that followed news of her first pregnancy.
The news was heralded throughout the nation in live television broadcasts on all major networks. Extra editions of newspapers were handed out on street corners in Tokyo, and hundreds of well-wishers gathered at the gates of the Imperial Palace.
``I'm so relieved,'' said Kazuno Otsuka, a 57-year-old office worker in central Tokyo. ``So must be everyone else, including the emperor and empress and Crown Princess Masako's parents.''
The origins of the imperial family are clouded in myth, which holds that the royal family is directly descended from the sun goddess. Most historians agree it is at least 1,500 years old
Instead, she has chosen to follow the traditional path and keep trying for a pregancy even after her last one, at age 38, ended in miscarriage.
Congratulations to the new parents. To American eyes, much of this imperial and royal stuff seems rather silly, but the ceremonial fanfare has been known to give the economy here short-term boosts in the past. It could certainly use one now.
Best beware of the posting police. This was up a couple hours ago with some rather funny machine translation. First one I've seen in proper English, though.
I was stationed in Okinawa in the mid-80's, and I remember there were concerns about the succession even then.
Babelfish reminds me of some of the gems of Japanese English. My favorite: "American sailors welcome to use beaches. But no seamen may be left when withdrawing."
No kidding! That's cool. Would you mind telling us the name of the organization, or Freepmail me if you'd rather not post.
I was here when they were married. A special national holiday was declared then. Ah, those were the days. The boom from the 1980s still had not petered out. The government was trying to encourage workers to take their paid vacations instead of overtime. My office colleagues and I joked that the prince should get busy with his new wife and make a lot of babies, because we'd probably get a new holiday when each was born.
I guess it wasn't for lack of trying. Considering that she's 41, this will probably be her only child.
Do you suppose we'll have a special national holiday on Monday? I could certainly do with another three-day weekend!
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