Princess Kiko is Pregnant for the 3rd time

[Vanesa]

Of course, I share what you wrote above. It's one of the most intelligent posts about the matter I even read.You said it much more accurately than I could have done it myself, since my English is really, really bad...

Adding to this, I thought that, not being Japanese myself, I have no right to discuss matters that must be solved by Japanese people. And I'm happy they doesn't have to "hold their tongues", not in Japan, not here. Forums are to discuss different issues, but we must be VERY CAREFUL about what we are discussing about. We westerns, are thaught to believe that we have the greater civilization in the whole world, and that we must imposse it to other countries, for "we know better". Of course, this is not true (for no civilization is better than other one, but only different)...And if we think that we are impossing some values that ARE NOT share for 100% of westerns either, we are in a big trouble...

Good for you. We have an original opinion, after all! I always enjoy your post, Princess of Chota. Be sure of it.

Vanesa.

[mandyy]

This week's TIME asia edition features the Imperial Family and it's future.
Japan's Mystery of Majesty
Late on the afternoon of aug. 16, an imperial motorcade departed from Prince Akishino's royal residence in Tokyo and headed for Aiiku Hospital. The main car carried Akishino and his wife, Princess Kiko, elegantly attired in a checkered gray suit. As the unhurried motorcade reached the hospital in central Tokyo, where a throng of reporters and onlookers had gathered, Kiko opened the window and offered the crowd what the Japanese media have dubbed her "princess smile": an enigmatic expression that suggests she knows she's fulfilling her royal destiny. Kiko had come to the hospital to prepare for the arrival of her third child, scheduled for birth via a caesarean section on Sept. 6. Three weeks is a long hospital stay for an expectant mother, but Kiko is 39 years old and her doctors have every reason to exercise caution: she is quite possibly carrying the future Emperor of Japan.....................
http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers...904/story.html

Royal Roots
http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers.../timeline.html


Images from TIME Asia

[foiegrass]

i wish kiko safely delivers a baby boy and this mess would be over once and for all.

*my personal opinon.

[linda85]

Thank you Mandy for the timely article about Japan's succession crisis. Very interesting indeed. I wonder if the IHA decided on a Sept 6th birthday for the new baby as it may be an auspicious date in the Japanese calendar?

Thanks again,
Linda 81

[morhange]

I wonder if the new baby, if he turns out to be a boy, will have a name ending in -ko like his mother and sisters. For the women, it seems to be a trend: Masako, Aiko, Kiko, Mako, Kako.

[Elspeth]

-ko is the traditional ending for female names in Japan. It means "child." Pretty much says it all there, doesn't it, about the way the Japanese view women. Japanese male children in the imperial family have the ending "-hito," which I think means "man."

[rchat]

Originally Posted by Elspeth

-ko is the traditional ending for female names in Japan. It means "child." Pretty much says it all there, doesn't it, about the way the Japanese view women. Japanese male children in the imperial family have the ending "-hito," which I think means "man."

Yeah, and they've got it all backwards... since men are the ones who act like a "child".

[Emmily]

Mandyy, do you know if this article will be featured in the US version of Time? Thanks for letting us know about this.

[johann]

According to the Japanese magazine Shukan Bunshun, Prince Akishino revealed the sex of his third child towards a friend. And guess what: it’s a boy.
Don´t know if this story is true. After reading the last two passages of the article, it looks a little fishy to me.

It's a boy for Japan: magazine
Posted: 31 August 2006 1505 hrs
TOKYO : Japan's Prince Akishino has confided to a friend that his wife Princess Kiko will have a boy, who would be the first male heir born into the royal family in four decades, a magazine reported Thursday.
The Shukan Bunshun quoted an unidentified friend who said the prince told him the tightly guarded news three months ago…...……

The friend of Akishino told the magazine, however, that there is still a room for uncertainty. "The comment was said at a time when it was possible to tell the sex of the baby, but he is not the type of person who would casually disclose such an important piece of information," the friend told Shukan Bunshun. The magazine said it was possible that Akishino was not confirming the sex of his long-awaited baby but instead was trying to avoid disappointing his friend who hoped for a boy.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060831...n_060831070241

[Lakshmi]

Re post # 416: I find it strange that Masako who spend her life in so many countries including USA, and than comming back to Japan did not have any problems with adjustment. She lived in countries with different cultures ,languages etc. And seemed to do very well. It looks she was a peron used to change environment. And suddenly she had 'adjustment disorder' when she begin to live with Japan Imperial Family.
Maybe her "disorder" was because Imperial house became her "gold cage"?

[Eliza]

I caught the tail end of the our evening news and it reported that the prince when asked by his friend if the baby was a boy, replied "it surely is a boy"

We'll know soon enough come Sept 6th.....

[lotus]

Members of Japan royal family are not free as European royal family. I've heard that Prinese Masako should follow lots rules...how to wave her hands, how to smile, how to wear.....Even Princess Masako who is accustomed to changing environment, she must not get used to this kind environment!!

[RachelD]

Originally Posted by lotus

Members of Japan royal family are not free as European royal family. I've heard that Prinese Masako should follow lots rules...how to wave her hands, how to smile, how to wear.....Even Princess Masako who is accustomed to changing environment, she must not get used to this kind environment!!

I've never looked into this or heard anything (I usualy don't follow up on Imperial Family). But I had noticed that both Masako and Kiko wave the same way, they wear outfits that are almost the same, thier little hats are also almost the same...hmmm....They even smile (almost) the same way. Maybe they do have to follow a certain guide line when being in public (and private life). I can't imagine someone being happy when they can't be thier natural selfs!

It took me FOREVER to find some pictures of these two princess together....does anyone else see the similarities?

Pictures from :

Getty Images


http://cache.gettyimages.com/xc/5678...F9B6A0A555925B

http://cache.gettyimages.com/xc/5282...6E4E390F4989F0

http://cache.gettyimages.com/xc/5676...C166345984FD8D


To conclude, I wish the best to Princess Kiko and her yet-to-be-born baby....(I hope it's a girl!).

[mandyy]

Princess Kiko to give birth to 3rd child by Caesarian on Wednesday
Princess Kiko, the wife of Prince Akishino, Emperor Akihito's second son, will give birth to her third child by Caesarian section Wednesday morning, the Imperial Household Agency said Friday...........A baby girl will be the royal couple's third daughter. Boy or girl, the baby will be the fourth grandchild of the emperor, 72, and his wife Empress Michiko, 71, and the 23rd member of the imperial family alive today...................The 39-year-old Princess Kiko awaits her operation at Aiiku Hospital in Tokyo's Minato Ward, where she has stayed since Aug. 16 to prepare for a Caesarian delivery.....................
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060901/kyodo/d8jrtu000.html

Japanese princess to give birth on September 6
..............."She will give birth in the morning of September 6," an Imperial Household Agency agency spokeswoman said, confirming earlier news reports..............
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060901...n_060901074211

[tosca_van_oranje]

good luck enjoy the birth party

[soCal girl]

We'll know in less than a week.

[btsnyder]

I always found the timing of this pregnancy interesting, a full 12 years after the birth of their last child. Surely someone in the Imperial Household must have sat the couple down and "suggested" that they have another child, since it was unlikely that Masako was able to have another, considering her fragile mental state and advancing age. Or, I wonder if it was a concious decision on the part of Akishino and Kiko, their chance to produce an heir for Japan and be parents of the next emperor. What are everyone's thoughts?

[tricia]

Princess Kiko will have a c-section on Wednesday, September 5th...that was announced today.

[Emily]

I believe that is Wednesday the 6th of September.

[rominet09]

If it is done early in the morning, we, Europeans, will have the news when we get up !