The royal palace in Japan has confirmed that Crown Princess Masako is pregnant. If the baby is a girl, she may become Japan's first empress in more than 200 years. Under Japanese law, only a male heir can ascend to the imperial throne. But that may soon change. There have been no sons born to the Japanese royal family in three decades, causing concern about the imperial succession.
Imperial scholars say the dearth of male births has made changing the law a necessity.
Before then, Japan's imperial line had eight female monarchs. The most recent reigning empress was Gosakuramachi, who ruled in the late 1700s. During the eight years she has been married to Crown Prince Naruhito, Masako has been enormous pressure to produce a boy who could be an heir. The princess was pregnant two years ago, but suffered a miscarriage. The general public appears to support changing the succession law, with many ordinary Japanese saying it is time to bring the royal succession in line with changing times.