Clock Ticking for Japan Males-Only Royal Succession

[DoveTurnedHawk]

She's 2 1/2 years old, the spitting image of her dad, and she could well become Japan's first reigning empress in more than two centuries.

Japan's littlest princess, Aiko, has been shielded from the public glare as media ponder the plight of her mother, Crown Princess Masako, a Harvard-educated former diplomat who has been suffering from a stress-related illness since December.

One week before her 11th wedding anniversary, however, Masako's sad tale is casting a spotlight on the simmering question of whether Japan will follow the trend of other modern monarchies and change its males-only succession law to let Aiko ascend the Chrysanthemum throne.

Royal watchers say Aiko's father, Crown Prince Naruhito, almost certainly had his daughter's unsettled future as well as his wife's present distress in mind when he uttered surprisingly blunt remarks last month about the pressures on Masako, 40, to adapt to conservative imperial ways.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=572&ncid=572&e=2&u=/nm/20040607/lf_nm/life_japan_princess_dc_1

DTH

[DoveTurnedHawk]

1. As an Asian American Male, I Say This

Fuck tradition. Bring the Japanese monarchy kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

DTH

[PartyPooper]

2. Amen.

O8)

[Rowdyboy]

3. How sad for Princess Masako and all this family

Its afreaking titular position. No real power or authority is involved. What possible reason would there be for demanding that this figurehead ruler be a male?

[DoveTurnedHawk]

4. Deeply Entrenched Sexism

By the way...how ya doin, Rowdy? :-)

D

[Rowdyboy]

5. Very well, DTH

Would you believe, Michael and I still haven't watched the final episode of Friends? We've had it on tape for weeks (we had a night class in faux finishes that night) but can't quite bring ourselves to actually watch it. Once we do, it'll really be over.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

6. But You've Got JOEY To Look Forward To!

How YOU doin? :D

DTH

[Rowdyboy]

7. I really, really, really hope

it doesn't suck! We'll know soon enough!

[SoCalDem]

8. Instead of uttering "blunt remarks", perhaps he should

have told the people that it's the 21st century, and they should stop hanging on to "ancient traditions" that are pretty much meaningless now..

Monarchies are so passe'..Time to move on.. I am sure they have squirreled away enough money to last several lifetimes.. Maybe they should take the "pressure" off of all of them, and just live the one life they have.:)

[psychopomp]

9. To some (powerful) Japanese men

the emperor is still the Divine ruler of the Japanese people. The Imperial Household Office still takes the rituals and position accorded to the emperor quite seriously. Though the Showa emperor disavowed any divine status, this is not taken seriously among the diehards.

Former PM Mori was not speaking from the hip when he talked about "a divine nation of gods."

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

10. Look on the bright side, if they're getting an empress again

then it's only a couple hundred more years before we'll have a female president! <sarcasm ON>