After weeks of royal gossip, the Imperial Palace confirmed that Crown Princess Masako is pregnant. Married to Crown Prince Naruhito since 1993, Princess Masako is due to give birth to couple's first child by early December. Meanwhile, gleefully ga-ga over the news, people here are deep in discussion over whether the child could be an heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. Japanese women smile as they read an extra edition Tuesday of a Fukuoka paper announcing the royal pregnancy. The law governing succession to the throne, enshrined in the 1889 Meiji Constitution and restated in the Imperial Household Law of 1947, stipulates that only male descendants can be imperial successors.
Times have changed, so it's only natural.
In fact, eight empresses have graced the throne, including Empress Suiko, who reigned for 36 years in the 6th and 7th centuries, encouraging the spread of Buddhism and opening diplomatic ties with China's Sui dynasty. But all the women on Japan's throne have been interim rulers until a male descendant was ready to be crowned. Now, parallel to the advancing status of women in Japan and the presence of a reform-minded government, a consensus is growing to change the laws of succession. But some here argue that giving women equal royal rights will raise hard questions. We should not debate this lightly or in some superficial way.