A Japanese man reads an extra edition of a local newspaper trumpeting the news about Crown Princess Masako's pregnancy in Tokyo Friday. (AP)

TOKYO, Dec. 10 – Japan seemed today a nation filled with proud parents.

When the news leaked that Princess Masako might be pregnant, and might finally start a new generation to inherit the emperor's throne, the usual harried expressions on Tokyo faces turned to beaming joy.

"It's fantastic news," said Yoshiko Suzuki, 50, a housewife from Chiba prefecture, in town to have lunch with a friend.

For six years now, Japanese have kept an awkward silence about the failure of Masako, a Harvard-educated diplomat, to produce an offspring since her marriage in 1993 to Crown Prince Naruhito.

E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version

Without an heir, what is billed as the world's oldest hereditary monarchy seemed at a dead end with Naruhito, the son of Emperor Akihito, the purported progeny of an unbroken line stretching 2,600 years.

But the un-pregnant pause in the production of heirs was forgiven this morning when the Asahi Shimbun newspaper quoted palace sources saying the princess, who turned 36 this week, was showing "symptoms of pregnancy." The Imperial Household Agency, which runs the palace and the lives of those within, said it would not confirm the report, but did not deny it, which was almost as good.

The bulletin was a happy jolt to a nation glum from news of tedious twitches in its moribund economy, of technological flops smudging its high-tech prowess, of sordid crimes assailing its image of social harmony.

So happy, in fact, that many Japanese said they do not much care if the princess gives birth to a girl or a boy. Technically, only a male heir can inherit the throne. But if it's a girl, people said, there is precedent to change the rules: seven women have served as emperor, the last a mere 230 years ago, and legend says the first to rule was a sun goddess named Amaterasu.

"If it's a girl, the trend of society is that she will be the new, woman emperor," said Toshiaki Kawahara, an industrious author who has squeezed out dozens of books about the low-key imperial family. "The government would have to change the Imperial Household Law."

Since Akihito's father, Hirohito, gave up his role as a god and supreme authority in the land after the end of World War II, the role of the emperor has been reduced to one of symbolic appearances and glorified courtesies.

The imperial family leads a sheltered and tightly restricted life in several palaces fenced off in downtown Tokyo. They have forgone the seemingly obligatory scandals of the British royals; the last racy gossip they produced was three years ago when the Crown Prince's brother denied he had a mistress in Thailand. While a majority of Japanese say they respect the tradition of the imperial family, most say they give the denizens of the palaces little thought – except when it comes to the matrimonial affairs of the crown prince and princess.

Naruhito was seen as a pleasant but uninspiring suitor, so there was some clucking about why Masako Owada, a rising star in the Foreign Service, agreed to marry him in 1993.

Crown Princess Masako (AP)

There seems little appeal to the job, which is mainly to avoid any gaffes, speak demurely and stop talking sooner than her husband. And "to be a crown princess, the single most important task is to have an heir," said Kawahara.

When that job seemed to be undone for several years, there were quiet whispers of worry. The establishment press was, of course, too polite to mention it in all but the most circumspect ways – the press had remained mum, after all, on Naruhito's long search for a bride "to avoid putting pressure." Only the weekly gossip magazines were rude enough to wonder in print whether the "problem" was Masako's or whether Naruhito, 39, was not up to the job.

So when Asahi, Japan's most respected and serious paper, trumpeted the Masako news as a big lead story today, it rang true despite the lack of official confirmation. Asahi distributed a free, rare "extra" edition with the news, and the afternoon papers followed with identical front-page photos of the princess and triumphal headlines: "The Ring of Joy at the Imperial Palace … The Archipelago of Happiness … Happy News … The Stork Flew With His Own Pace." The respected NHK network added the details that the princess is five weeks pregnant, had morning sickness, and is due to deliver Aug. 6, a millennium baby.

It seemed a bit premature for Hitoshi Nakajima, 36, an office worker in Ginza. "Let's wait until her stomach gets bigger," he said.

But there was no denying the news touched many Japanese. "I feel sorry for the crown princess that such a personal matter is being discussed so openly," said Eri Sato, 30, a graduate student. But she acknowledged, "My father came to breakfast with a shy smile. He seemed to be as happy as if he was announcing that my younger sister was pregnant."

Correspondent Kathryn Tolbert and special correspondent Shigehiko Togo contributed to this story.

Previous Article          Back to the top          Next Article