Japan's royal boy born

Japan's Princess Kiko yesterday gave birth to a baby boy, the first imperial male heir to be born in more than four decades and the answer to the prayers of conservatives keen to keep women off the ancient throne. The birth will scuttle for now a plan to let women ascend the throne, an idea opposed by traditionalists eager to preserve a practice they say stretches back more than 2,000 years.

That would disappoint many ordinary Japanese, who favour changing the succession to give women equal rights to the throne.

TV programmes flashed the news that a male heir - the third in line after his uncle and father - had been born, although tabloid media had forecast weeks earlier that the baby was a boy.

Newspapers issued extra editions, eagerly snapped up on the street, to announce the arrival of the emperor's first grandson.

Royal fans waving Japanese flags and shouting "Congratulations" greeted Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, as the beaming grandparents left a hotel in Sapporo, northern Japan, where they are on an official visit.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, a conservative expected to become Japan's new Prime Minister this month, welcomed the birth. "It's a refreshing feeling that reminds us of a clear autumn sky," he told reporters.

Asked about succession law reform, he added: "It is important for us to discuss it calmly, carefully and firmly."

An Imperial Household Agency official told reporters Princess Kiko had given birth by a Caesarean operation to the 2,558g boy at 8.27 a.m. (2327 GMT).

He said both Princess Kiko, 39, and the baby were doing well.

No imperial boys had been born since the baby's father, Prince Akishino, in 1965, raising the possibility of a succession crisis. Crown Prince Naruhito, 46, and Crown Princess Masako, 42 have one child, four-year-old Princess Aiko.

Ceremonies around the birth include the laying of a tiny sword near the baby's pillow by his father to ward off demons.

Japanese emperors have not been worshipped as gods since Emperor Akihito's father, Hirohito renounced his divinity after Japan's defeat in World War II, and have no political authority.

But the monarchy remains rich with symbolism and ritual.

Near Tokyo's Gakushuin University, where Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko met, a dance troupe performed, carp streamers flew in honour of the infant boy, and locals toasted the baby with sake rice wine.

"It's good that a boy was born so that the royal family could keep its male lineage. I'm happy that Japan's tradition has been maintained," said Tadayuki Aman, a 77-year-old doctor.

The monarchy is dear to the hearts of nationalist groups and about 70 members of one group gathered near the palace to sing the national anthem and shout "Banzai" (long life) to the infant.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had planned to revise the law to let women ascend the throne but Princess Kiko's pregnancy put on hold that proposal, which would have cleared the way for Aiko to become Japan's first reigning empress since the 18th century.

Surveys have shown that most Japanese favour giving women equal rights to the throne.

"Other countries around the world have female monarchs. Japan should also change with the times," said Masashi Yamaguchi, a 25-year-old IT engineer.

Experts agree change to the rules of succession will be needed eventually since ensuring male heirs is difficult without royal concubines. That practice ended when the previous emperor, Hirohito, refused to take one.

"The whole question of revising the law still needs to be discussed, but now that a boy's been born, we have time," said Tokyo Women's University lecturer Midori Watanabe.

The birth is the latest chapter in a drama that began more than two years ago when Princess Masako, a Harvard-educated former diplomat, developed a mental illness caused by the stress of rigid royal life, including pressure to bear a son.

Some Crown Princess Masako's fans hoped the baby's birth would ease her plight.

"This might take the burden off her to have a son or to raise her daughter to be emperor," said Masae Tone, 76, a former high school English teacher.

Japan has had eight reigning empresses but conservatives stress they were stop-gap rulers.

Key facts about Japan's royals

¤ Traditionalists believe Japan's imperial institution is the world's oldest hereditary monarchy. Eighth-century chronicles give the reign of the first emperor Jimmu from 660 BC to 585 BC, but there is doubt as to whether he existed.

¤ For most of the imperial institution's history, the emperor lacked direct political power and was primarily a symbolic and religious figure. Under the Meiji constitution, promulgated in 1889, the emperor became a constitutional monarch as well as a divine sovereign and focus of loyalty for his subjects.

¤ Emperor Hirohito, the father of the current Emperor Akihito, renounced his divine status after Japan's defeat in World War II. Under the current Japanese constitution, drafted by US occupation forces, the emperor became the "symbol of the state and the unity of the people".

¤ Traditionally, only males descended through the paternal line could ascend the throne and while there have been eight exceptions when empresses reigned, none passed on the throne to a child who was not descended from the male line. That tradition was ensconced in a 1947 succession law.

¤ Before yesterday, no males had been born into the imperial family since 1965, when the emperor's second son, Akishino, was born. Crown Prince Naruhito, 46, and Crown Princess Masako, 42, have one daughter, four-year-old Aiko. Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko have two daughters.

¤ Under the present imperial succession law, the boy born to Princess Kiko is third in line to the throne. If the law were revised to allow women and their children to ascend the throne, Aiko would become second in line.

¤ Concerned about a possible succession crisis, a panel of experts recommended last November that the law be amended to allow women and their children to inherit the throne, and that precedence be given to the first child, regardless of gender.