The wife of the Emperor’s second son is pregnant. All of the news programs across the country have been running the story for two days now. Unfortunately, they don’t stop with the “she’s pregnant” information. No, no. They run two hour long specials on how the the couple met, interviewing the man who served them at a restaurant they went on one of their dates, or taking us to the park where they were seen walking once. There’s not much real news in Japan.
Of course, with the debate over female succession, this pregnancy has real political meaning. The Crown Prince has one daughter, and the Emperor’s second son has two daughters. According to Japanese law, only a male can ascend the throne. The Diet has been debating over whether to change to the law to allow females to become emperor. With this pregnancy, however, there is the chance that the change will not be needed. I’m fairly certain that over half of the country’s politicians are hoping for the birth of a boy. We’ll have to wait until the fall to find out.
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