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Japan gets a male heir
06/09/2006 07:28 - (SA)
Mari Yamaguchi
Tokyo - Japan's Princess Kiko gave birth to a boy early on Wednesday, providing the centuries-old Chrysanthemum Throne with its first male heir in more than 40 years and defusing a looming succession crisis.
The birth came minutes after Kiko, 39, underwent a Caesarean section.
The boy is the third in line to the throne, after Crown Prince Naruhito and Kiko's husband, Prince Akishino. No name was immediately announced.
Succession crisis
The arrival of a royal boy forestalled an eventual succession crunch for the royal family, which traces its roots back some 1 500 years. The child is Emperor Akihito's first grandson.
The birth was also likely to quell efforts to change Japan's male-only imperial law to allow women to ascend the throne. Several women have reigned over the years, the last being Gosakuramachi, who took the crown in 1763.
The boy, the first male heir born in Japan since Akishino in 1965, was born at 08:27 and weighed 2 558 grams, the Imperial Household Agency said. Both child and mother were in good condition.
Media attention
The birth took place under intense public attention. Kiko, who already had two daughters, was hospitalised on August 16 after showing symptoms of partial placenta previa, in which part of the placenta drops too low in the uterus.
The gender of the baby had been a closely guarded palace secret, though Japanese tabloids had speculated the child would be a boy - the wish of many traditionalists who sought to preserve the male-only imperial line.
Tradition
"I'm relieved a boy was born," said Toshihiro Sasaki, 29, systems engineer in Tokyo. "The male heir imperial system has continued for about 1 500 years, I think that tradition should be protected."
The birth follows a tumultuous decade for Japan's royal family, which is still highly respected by the public and is largely shielded from view by the secretive Imperial Household Agency.
- AP
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