Hallelujah! Kiko is Pregnant again

[nullpointer]

Japan's Princess Kiko 'pregnant'

Japan's Princess Kiko is reportedly pregnant, raising the possibility that the royal family could produce its first male heir in 40 years. Princess Kiko, the 39-year-old wife of Emperor Akihito's second son, is due to give birth in the autumn, Kyodo news said, quoting the Imperial Household.

No boy has been born into the imperial family since 1965.

[Taro Toporific]

Japan's Princess Kiko 'pregnant'

There must be dancing in the streets of Yasukuni!

[ichigo partygirl]

I wonder how much she got paid for that? Rather good timing isnt it?
Bet you they have been going at it like rabbits since someone suggested the title be passed to their children
if one was a boy.

[Socratesabroad]

I'd hit it.

[karekora]

Personally, I still hope that laws are changed so that Princess Aiko can be Empress. It just seems more right to me. The law that only males can be emperor in Japan just seems very dated & sexist in such a modern, rich (well... they are back in the black again now, right?), and powerful country.

On top of that, Princess Aiko is kinda cute huh? Japan need someone cute in a powerful position in the Imperial Family. Look what Prince William and Prince Harry - even Princess Diana - did for the English Royal Family!!

[jingai]

I'd hit it.

Well, watch out for the palace guards and uyoku. Wonder what would happen if some blonde kid popped out- would he be the future emperor?

[Charles]

Bet you they have been going at it like rabbits since someone suggested the title be passed to their children
if one was a boy.

Someone has been busy, I bet there's a pile of used test tubes and petri dishes somewhere.

[American Oyaji]

Someone has been busy, I bet there's a pile of used test tubes and petri dishes somewhere.

AGREED

[Charles]

A portrait of the next Emperor, to be known as "XY-tennou"

[ichigo partygirl]

[IkemenTommy]

Someone has been busy, I bet there's a pile of used test tubes and petri dishes somewhere.

Or.. they have some kind of a mix up and a black baby boy gets born. How f*cked would that be?

[karekora]

Sorry to be against common opinion here, but... It would be kind of wrong for a foreigner to be Emperor of Japan. This is JAPAN, and there should be a Japanese Emperor/Empress. It would spoilt he whole look of the country if, say, a blonde haired, blue eyed boy went to official meetings announcing "I am the Emperor of Japan!". Japan wouldnt be taken seriously.

Im not racist, and I know that the English Royal Family must have a bit of all the European countries blood in them, especially German and Greek, but, they look the part. And, after all, isnt that really all they are used for? For tourists to look at?

If a tourist goes to Japan and sees a fellow Londoner sitting on the Japanese throne, it would take away all the exotic mystery that tourists seem to love about Japan.

Let Princess Aiko be Empress. That would show the world that Japan isnt an old-fashioned sexist place.

[IkemenTommy]

Sorry to be against common opinion here, but... It would be kind of wrong for a foreigner to be Emperor of Japan. This is JAPAN, and there should be a Japanese Emperor/Empress. It would spoilt he whole look of the country if, say, a blonde haired, blue eyed boy went to official meetings announcing "I am the Emperor of Japan!". Japan wouldnt be taken seriously.

Like as if Japan is being taken seriously by the rest of the world already..

I hate to say it but I am hoping the princess puts out another baby girl this time just to lay a big F you on the old sexist masoginist Japanese way of thinking.

[flotsam]

masoginist

that's fucking brilliant. i'll have to remember that.

Princess Kiko "up the Duff"

[Greji]

sexist masoginist Japanese way of thinking.

I'm not trying to be impolite here Tommy, but I believe you are missing a "y". Masogynist is made up of two words meaning "hate" or "detest" and "women". You have written "Hate Gin", which immediately takes you off my Christmas card list and cancels your invitation to my pub. Hating women is all right if you are so inclined, but hating gin is sacrilige and such vile language should not be uttered out loud in public without tonic and a twist of lime!

[nullpointer]

I'm not trying to be impolite here Tommy, but I believe you are missing a "y". Masogynist is made up of two words meaning "hate" or "detest" and "women".

Not to be impolite but I believe you are also missing something, namely, an "i'. There is no such word as Masogynist. It is "Misogynist".

[Greji]

Not to be impolite but I believe you are also missing something, namely, an "i'. There is no such word as Masogynist. It is "Misogynist".

You got me! I went through more dictionaries and on line checks looking to find out what the fuck a masoginist and I probably didn't spell that right either. But that spelling does appear as well as Tommy's also appears, as it seems that it is mis-spelled by all the feminists and bloggers that use it.

At least I was right on the meaning, give me some slack there!
Websters has its roots as: "...Etymology: Greek misogynia, from misein to hate + gynE woman -- ...".

I shall take the honorable way out and lie, it was a typo(?).

But I still stand firm on the issue of any Gin Haters!

[IkemenTommy]

OK you walking full-time dictionaries.
Thanks for clarifying..

[nullpointer]

I shall take the honorable way out and lie

That's a good one. Gotta remember it for future use.

[Mulboyne]

[SIZE="6"]UH-OH...[/SIZE]

Mainichi: Japanese Princess Kiko has pregnancy complications

Japan's Princess Kiko has developed complications with her pregnancy and needs rest, palace officials said Tuesday. Princess Kiko, who is due to give birth in late September, has symptoms of placenta previa, a condition in which the placenta drops too low in the uterus, an Imperial Household Agency spokesman quoted palace doctor Ichiro Kanazawa as saying. Although both the mother and her unborn baby are in stable condition, Princess Kiko may have to give birth to her third child by Caesarean section due to possible bleeding or pre-term birth, the agency said. The pregnancy of the 39-year-old wife of Prince Akishino, who is the second son of Emperor Akihito, has won national attention because the imperial family has failed to produce a male heir to the throne since 1965.

[otakuden]

I'd hit it.

ditto. multiple times
though i dun see why japan couldn't have an empress instead of an emperor...

[Mulboyne]

i dun see why japan couldn't have an empress instead of an emperor...

It's not about emperor vs empress since Japan has had an empress before. It's about whether an heir comes through the male line. If the only heir is a girl and there are no other accredited members of the royal family then the next heir will be from the maternal line. Previously, there was always an heir from the male line in another part of the extended royal family to take over from an empress. I don't mind either way but traditionalists do mind very much.

[IkemenTommy]

.dp

[Mulboyne]

This report gives no sources so the reporter probably knows no more than we do:

Japan's Princess Kiko Is Having A Boy

Japan's Princess Kiko will reportedly give birth to a baby boy. The royal, the wife of Prince Akishino, announced her pregnancy in February and speculation is rife that she will provide a male heir following the announcement the child will be delivered by Caesarean. Commentators believe the decision to opt for a Caesarean section is proof the baby will be a boy because they want to take extra care...The Imperial House Agency has refused to comment on the reports. A spokesperson said, "We don't know and we would not comment about it if we did. The parents themselves say they don't want to know until the baby is born."

Reuters reports that the weeklies have decided that it will be a boy:

"The birth of a boy!" trumpeted one headline in the weekly Shukan Post. Other magazines have run similar articles.

[Taro Toporific]

[Mulboyne]

AFP report:

Japan's Prince Akishino has confided to a friend that his wife Princess Kiko will have a boy, who would be the first male heir born into the royal family in four decades, a magazine reported on Thursday. The 'Shukan Bunshun' quoted an unidentified friend who said the prince told him the tightly guarded news three months ago. "A close friend asked Prince Akishino, 'After having two daughters, Princesses Mako and Kako, would the next baby be a boy?'" the weekly said. "Prince Akishino smiled and clearly responded, 'Yes, it seems that way'," the magazine said.

[Taro Toporific]

AFP report:

Princess Kiko to give birth Wednesday
Reuters - Sept 3
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Princess Kiko, pregnant with a possible heir to the Chrysanthemum throne, is to give birth on Wednesday, an official at the Imperial Household Agency said on Friday.
Kiko, 39, the wife of the emperor's younger son, Akishino, is to undergo a Caesarean section after pregnancy complications.
...If the child is a boy, the birth will avert a succession crisis caused by the fact that no male has been born into Japan's royal family since 1965. Crown Prince Naruhito, the emperor's elder son, has one daughter, 4-year-old Aiko, who cannot ascend the throne under existing law.... Kiko has two daughters. Japan's tabloids have said the child is already known to be a boy, but there has been no official announcement of the baby's sex. ...

[Taro Toporific]

Baby name challenge for Japan royals
0852 GMT (1652 HKT), September 5, 2006
TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) --Ordinary Japanese couples find it hard enough to choose a name for a baby -- there are 2,928 permitted Chinese characters that can stand alone or be combined with others for shades of meaning.

For Prince Akishino, who may find himself choosing a name for a future emperor, the task will likely be even harder and must be completed within a week.

His wife, Princess Kiko, is due to give birth to a baby by a Caesarean operation on Wednesday, and if it is a boy he will be the first male born into the imperial household in more than 40 years. Only males are allowed to succeed to the throne under current law.

Since Akishino is a second son rather than a direct heir to the Chrysanthemum throne he is permitted to name his own children rather than leaving the process up to his father, Emperor Akihito.

The couple's two older daughters -- Princesses Mako and Kako -- were given two-syllable names to echo their mother's monicker, the weekly Shukan Bunshun said in its latest edition.

The new baby will likely also be given a name composed of two characters, said Yasuo Ohara, a classics professor at Kokugakuin University in Tokyo.

Emperors' names traditionally end with the character "hito," meaning the highest moral standard, while names for royal women end in "ko", meaning noblewoman.

Names ending in "hito" are highly unusual for commoners and while "ko" was once a popular name ending for girls, it is increasingly rare for new babies.

Akishino's given name is Fumihito, his elder brother is Crown Prince Naruhito and their grandfather was the wartime Emperor Hirohito.

In a simple naming ceremony held seven days after the birth of Kako, Akishino laid a wooden box on the baby's pillow, containing her name written on a piece of "washi" handmade paper, the Shukan Bunshun said.

Although the government's list of approved characters for names does not strictly apply to the royal family, Akishino is unlikely to choose anything too esoteric.

"He probably won't choose anything complicated, or that would be difficult for the public to feel familiar with," said Ohara. "That has been the custom since the Meiji period (1868-1912)," he added.....

[Kuang_Grade]

I'm hoping for future Emperor Kool Moe Dee

[nullpointer]

On my my to work I saw a huge crowd in front of Nihombashi Takashimaya and Meidi-ya waiting to buy gifts for the child and the mother.