Congratulations To Our Friends in Japan

[model_mom]

MSNBC Home » World News » Asia-Pacific
Japan’s Princess Kiko has a boy

Succession crisis averted; first male heir born in four decades


Yuriko Nakao / AP
Japan's Princess Kiko smiles as she and her husband, Prince Akishino, arrive at a Tokyo hospital in this Aug. 16 file photo.
View related photos




BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 34 minutes ago


TOKYO - Japan’s Princess Kiko gave birth Wednesday to a baby boy — the first male heir to be born into the ancient royal family in more than four decades, the Imperial Household Agency said.
Kiko, 39, is the wife of the emperor’s younger son, Prince Akishino. The child, third in line to the throne after the crown prince and Akishino, was delivered by Caesarean section after pregnancy complications.

The birth will likely derail debate on revising the 1947 imperial succession law to let women inherit the Japanese throne. No royal males have been born since the baby’s father in 1965.
Crown Prince Naruhito, the emperor’s elder son, has one daughter, 4-year-old Princess Aiko, who under existing law cannot ascend the throne.
The princess entered the operating room earlier in the day to deliver her third child, as the nation anxiously awaited word on whether the imperial family would have its first male heir in four decades.



The 39-year-old princess, the emperor's second-eldest son, was hospitalized on Aug. 16 in expectation of Wednesday's planned Caesarean section. Kiko entered the delivery room shortly after 8 a.m. (2300 GMT), Kyodo News said.
Gender a tightly held secret
The gender of the baby was a closely guarded palace secret, though Japanese tabloids had speculated the child would be a boy, giving the country's male-only succession system a respite from a looming succession crunch.
“I’m hoping for a healthy baby. This is such happy news,” Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters late Tuesday at his official residence. “It would be even better if this makes young people want to have more babies,” he added, in reference to Japan’s declining birth rate.
Much was riding on the gender of the infant, which will have a major impact on a heated debate over whether the 1947 imperial succession law should be changed to allow a female to assume the throne for the first time in centuries. Japan’s royal family, whose roots reach back at least 1,400 years, has not produced a male heir since 1965, and many fear a succession crisis unless the law is changed.
Crown Prince Naruhito — the eldest son of Emperor Akihito — and Crown Princess Masako have a daughter, Aiko, 4, but no sons. Kiko and Akishino had two daughters before Wednesday's birth.
Public support runs high for putting Aiko on the throne, and a special panel last year recommended consideration of changing the law. The idea was backed by Koizumi.
Conservatives, however, mounted a counterattack, saying a change would damage Japan’s unique imperial tradition.
Divisive debate dropped after pregnancy
The divisive debate was suddenly dropped in February when Kiko announced she was pregnant with her third child and Koizumi shelved the proposal.
All the attention is having a spin-off effect on the economy. Shares of baby and maternity product makers shot up in February after Kiko’s pregnancy announcement, and they have climbed steadily since the palace announced the delivery would take place in early September.
Stock prices of Pigeon Corp., Japan’s largest maternity and baby products maker, have risen more than 35 percent since the beginning of the year and closed at an all-time high of $17.80 per share Monday before dipping slightly on Tuesday.
“The birth of Princess Kiko’s baby is definitely good news for our industry,” said Pigeon spokeswoman Yuko Arikawa. “We are hoping that the royal baby would encourage young couples to have their own children as well.”
The heightened baby talk comes as Japan is consumed by debate over how to remedy the country’s slumping birthrate. Japanese women now have a record-low average of 1.25 babies in their lifetime, and the population started dropping for the first time last year. Many fear the trend will lead to labor shortages, a damaged economy and failing pension and health care systems.
The Associated Press and Reuters copntributed to this report.

[misssakura]

Well, good that all went well, but I was sort of hoping they'd find out some way to let women ascend to the throne, would have been interesting.

And they should keep quiet about the declining birthrate, it annoys me.

[model_mom]

I agree with you but I always celebrate the birth of a baby...male or female

[northernsky]

congratulations! i want to know the name of the baby.

[Heroin_Chic]

I hope the pressure is off the lovely princess Masako now and she`ll be happier from now.

Best wishes to Japan`s next emperor!

[Zen]

cool....

[softgrey]

i didn't know there was a declining birthrate...
thanks mm..

interesting article...

[Moofins]

Loved reading the article, and yay for a baby!

[VainJane]

Mmmm....I remember reading about Princess Masako's situation and how she was expected by a lot of people to give birth to a boy. I'm glad the pressure is off her though I'm sad that her daughter won't get the opportunity to be put on the thrown.

I kinda feel bad for Masako....I might be wrong in this, but considering the importance of a male heir, I suspect she might be overshadowed by Kiko because Kiko was able to have a boy. Kinda like something out of a Henry-the-8th story.

Sidenote: I remember reading that some of the Western nations (like Japan and France) are having a baby decline and that the governments are offering incentives for people to have more kids. I kinda wish the U.S. had that problem

If Japan wants babies, they can have some of ours. We'll ship 'em over express delivery

[Melisande]

ModelMom, thanks for your kind words!
I wish we could all say the same.

Unfortunately, the political implications of this birth are filling Japan with anger and sadness...no fault of the lovely baby, of course. It was so blatantly calculated to allow sexism to prevail in this modern nation.

As you know Princess Masako was suffering from serious depression because of pressures to bear a male heir. Things got bad enough that they finally considered changing the law to allow female succession. As soon as the amendment process was underway, however, Princess Kiko announced her own pregnancy, and halted any progress right there and then. Her triumphant smirk has been plastered all over the media, with no regard for Masako's suffering or the public. (It doesn't help that we know how Harvard-bred diplomat Masako and cough-scandal-coverup-cough Kiko have respectively come to the Imperial family.) We had thought such blatant sexism and scheming fell with the Roman Empire. It is an embarassment for Japan and a dishonour to women.

[Zen]

^ wow....I had no idea things like that were happening in Japan. Thanks
for your information Melisande

[Melisande]

^^You're very welcome Bodhitree!
I woke up like this this morning:
Just had to let it out...

[misssakura]

Australia, Japan and France are offering small monetary incentives for women to have children. However it doesn't include immigrants. it's just a way to re-stock a country 'exclusively', when in fact there is unemployment and poverty all around the world and enough skilled labour to go around, if people weren't so concerned about the colour of skin, since everybody has the chance to learn a language and culture if required.

Anyway, I had no idea about Masako, it sounds really tragic. I wish it had been a girl really.

[eternitygoddess]

As you know Princess Masako was suffering from serious depression because of pressures to bear a male heir. Things got bad enough that they finally considered changing the law to allow female succession. As soon as the amendment process was underway, however, Princess Kiko announced her own pregnancy, and halted any progress right there and then. Her triumphant smirk has been plastered all over the media, with no regard for Masako's suffering or the public. (It doesn't help that we know how Harvard-bred diplomat Masako and cough-scandal-coverup-cough Kiko have respectively come to the Imperial family.) We had thought such blatant sexism and scheming fell with the Roman Empire. It is an embarassment for Japan and a dishonour to women.

Did is EXACTLY what I was thinking, although I'm not Japanese.

Masako has been under so much pressure and I think that it would be WONDERFUL to have her daughter reign. But now just when there was a chance of a female ascending the throne, the attention goes to Kiko and the throne goes to her soon. I wonder how the crown couple feels about this.

If I was her, I'd be PISSED.

[Bluestar07]

Originally Posted by misssakura

Well, good that all went well, but I was sort of hoping they'd find out some way to let women ascend to the throne, would have been interesting.

And they should keep quiet about the declining birthrate, it annoys me.

Yeah I was hoping for that too. That would be groundbreaking. But still congrats!
By the way, Princess Aiko is adorable! Saw footage of her some time ago.