A Pregnant Pause

Japan seems to have averted the prospect of revolutionary change. In January 2005, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appointed a panel to develop suggestions for warding off a looming succession crisis in the imperial family. By law and eons of tradition, the Japanese throne can pass only to males with emperors on the father's side. But no boys have been born into the family since 1965. Crown Prince Naruhito, 45, and his wife Masako, 42, have had only one daughter, 4-year-old Aiko. Naruhito's brother, Prince Akishino, 40, and his wife, Kiko, 39, have two daughters. So Koizumi's panel suggested that succession should pass to the Emperor's firstborn, regardless of gender. Assuming that Naruhito succeeds his father, Emperor Akihito, Aiko would then be in line for the throne. The panel's plan seemed wildly popular and Koizumi vowed to introduce a bill to modify the law this March.

But traditionalists, for whom the paternal line of succession is a defining characteristic of Japan's imperial legacy, started to protest. Echoing the shifting mood, on Feb. 4 the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's most liberal major newspaper, said that "Revision of the law must be considered through calm discussion." At a rally on Feb. 1, 173 Diet members signed a petition opposing a "premature submission of the bill."

Then came the shocker. On Feb. 7, news leaked that Princess Kiko was pregnant—11 years after she last gave birth. To many, the timing of the leak (just before the bill's submission) and that of the baby's conception (just after the panel's recommendation) seemed, well, like happy coincidences. Koizumi promptly tabled the bill. If the child is a boy, traditionalists will know that their prayers have been answered. And if it isn't? Then they'll just have to offer up some more.