It’s a Girl for Royal Couple in Japan

It’s a girl.

And this little infant, born this afternoon to Japan’s crown prince and princess, could change the face of the imperial household if no male heirs are born later.

The birth comes after more than eight years of marriage for Crown Prince Naruhito and his bride, Masako, a highly regarded diplomat in Japan’s Foreign Ministry who traded her career for the princess’ tiara.

Given the long wait for an heir and the possibility that the baby would be a girl, there already had been calls for modifying Japanese laws that prevent women from ascending the 2,600-year-old Chrysanthemum Throne.

And even though the infant isn’t the heir apparent, Japan is nevertheless ecstatic over the birth of an apparently healthy child--a bright spot in a nation whose self-image has been battered by a decade of bad economic news and a rising crime rate.

Masako Takashima, 46, of Tokyo said: “It’s good news in a gloomy period. I’m looking forward to seeing the baby; I don’t care at all if it’s a boy or girl.”

She and about 200 others were at the anniversary celebration of a Tokyo elementary school when the principal interrupted to deliver the news of the birth, which occurred at 2:43 p.m. “Let’s congratulate the new life,” he said, and the audience applauded.

Had the child been a boy, it would have put to rest concerns of a succession crisis in the world’s oldest monarchy.

One man, Kinsaku Kogure, 67, muttered quietly: “Uh-oh. There’s going to be trouble.” But he added, “No problem, we can change the imperial household law and she can be the empress.”

Japan has been on pins and needles, particularly since Friday night, when the Imperial Household Agency announced that the princess was “showing signs of labor” and would be taken to the hospital at 11 p.m.

Shortly thereafter, 37-year-old Masako--in large pearl earrings and a blue suit--emerged from the palace grounds, sitting in the back of a black limousine, with Naruhito, 41, at her side. She waved and smiled to the crowds, who clapped and cheered along the route. The limousine’s curtains were open and the lights were left on.

That ride was shown over and over again on national television stations that interrupted regular programming. Newscasters reported live from the palace and later the hospital throughout the night and this morning.

About 1 p.m. Saturday, they announced that the princess had been moved to the delivery room, and at about 3 p.m. came the news that she had given birth.

Now, Japan--saddened after the princess’ high-profile miscarriage in 1999--is celebrating with parades and giddy front-page headlines.

About 5,000 chochin, or paper lanterns, and national flags have been distributed for a parade Sunday at the imperial palace.

As the baby’s arrival grew imminent in recent days, a barrage of news programs has been aired speculating on seemingly every detail of the birth, from the kind of diapers the new arrival is likely to be swaddled in to the refurbishing of the hand-me-down bassinet that held Naruhito as an infant.

Merchants have been capitalizing on the infant’s birth as well.

Stores on “Princess Street,” the main shopping area in Tokyo’s upscale Senzoku neighborhood where Masako’s parents live--are marking the occasion with special merchandise. The Loncheale shop is touting its “stork” chocolates, the Aikiya fish shop its special red and white sashimi, and the Tomato Bento shop is renaming its “Stork’s Bento” lunches to “Royal Baby” bentos.

Publications are even banking on a royal baby boom that will restore the country’s tepid economy. In an article last month titled “The Stork’s Economy,” the Sunday Mainichi magazine proclaimed that the economic surge from the royal birth could top 14 trillion yen, or about $113 billion, which is about 1% of Japanese personal assets. That is how much the magazine figured senior citizens--who hold the bulk of the country’s vast savings--might shell out on their own grandchildren as they get in the baby spirit.

The magazine’s evidence: The economy surged each time an emperor was born in the 20th century. In 1901, the country’s growth rate rose 3.8% compared with the previous year with the birth of Hirohito; in 1933, it rose 10% with the birth of current Emperor Akihito; and in 1960, it boomed 13.3% with the arrival of Naruhito.

Another publication, Shukan Shincho, cites research by Daiichi Life Insurance economist Keiichi Murakami showing that if everyone older than 20 hoisted one glass of beer at a bar, spending would increase by about $400 million.

Masako reportedly was attended by about 10 doctors, including at least one female obstetrician whom the princess requested be added to the team. The physicians were reportedly required to take a bath and sanitize their bodies twice before touching the princess. A couch had been moved into the hospital where Naruhito was to have awaited news of the birth: Unlike in the U.S., it is still rare in Japan for fathers to watch the delivery.

As of early Friday afternoon, the Imperial Household Agency had indicated that Masako would deliver the baby naturally if possible. In Japan, that means she probably wouldn’t have the painkilling epidural that most women get when they deliver in the U.S. these days.

Had the baby been a boy, he would have been second in line to the throne. The last male born to the imperial family was Naruhito’s younger brother, Akishino, in 1965. (Akishino has two daughters.) The dearth of royal male offspring--and the possibility that Masako would give birth to a girl but have no other children--had prompted some politicians to make noises about changing the country’s century-old Imperial Household Law, which prohibits a female monarch.