Imperial pregnancy a cause for happiness
The Imperial Household Agency announced Tuesday evening that Princess Kiko, the wife of Prince Akishino, was showing signs of pregnancy. The baby is due at the end of September.
The baby will be the couple's third child after Princess Mako, 14, and Princess Kako, 11, and the fourth grandchild of the Emperor and Empress after the two princesses and Princess Aiko, 4, the only child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako. Princess Aiko was born in December 2001.
The baby will further brighten the Imperial family. According to the agency, the Emperor and Empress heartily rejoiced at the news. It is wonderful news for us, too. We would like to congratulate the Imperial family from the bottom of our hearts...........................
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/editorial/20060209TDY04005.htm
Princess Kiko pregnancy puts female Emperor idea on hold
Just a few weeks ago, the campaign to make women eligible for Japan's time-honored Chrysanthemum Throne seemed assured of victory.
The measure was overwhelmingly popular with the public, and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi vowed to push ahead with the reform in a major speech in the Diet.
Now that movement is frozen in its tracks, thanks to a powerful newcomer on the Japanese Imperial scene: a six-week-old embryo.
The Imperial Household Agency announced on Tuesday that Princess Kiko -- wife of the second man in line to the throne, Prince Akishino -- was in the early stages of pregnancy, delivering a possible solution to the Imperial Family's much-bemoaned lack of male heirs.........................
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20060209p2a00m0na002000c.html