Princess Masako is pregnant again and all of Japan prays for a boy!

Karen, one of my astute readers, has pointed out that it’s Princess Kiko and not Crown Princess (in continuing distress) Masako who is “preggers”. What can I say? I so wanted poor Masako to rise to the occasion that – even as I saw Kiko’s name in the Washington Post article – I read only her (Masako’s) name.

Of course, this raises even more interesting questions: What happens if Kiko has a boy? Will the goverment put the kibosh on the bill that would allow Masako’s daughter to ascend the throne – so that this “more suitable boy” can become crown prince? Will Masako be relieved if Kiko delivers a boy prince? Or will this blessed event plunge her into inconsolable and irretreivable despair at having “failed” the imperial family and her nation?

Thanks Karen…

(Nonetheless, I shall leave this post in place as a monument to my flaws and to allow my detractors to revel in my shame….)

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In this previous article, I expressed sympathy for Princess Masako who had been effectively exiled to her maiden-family’s country home after failing to inject life (in the form of contemporary style and vital male heirs) into the moribund Japanese imperial family – the way Princess Diana had done for the British royal family and as all of Japan expected her to do.

Indeed, unforgiving Japanese imperialists determined that Masako had failed spectacularly…in both respects. And they were not shy about expressing their disappointment and speculating as to reasons why she was unable to fulfill her imperial duties.

Of course, to Westerners, Masako always seemed every bit as glamourous as Diana and she was confirmed to be properly fertile after giving birth to a beautiful baby girl in 2001 – 8 years into her marriage to the future emperor of Japan. But to the Japanese, her failure to produce more children – a boy in particular – made her seem barren. And, her baby girl became more an object of resentment than a symbol of national pride.

Ironically, it seems inevitable that such national pressure to produce a child would induce prohibitive performance anxiety in any woman. In fact, in Masako’s case, it not only inhibited her physically but also led to a nervous breakdown as her 10th wedding anniversary approached in 2003, which precipitated her exile.

What is even more ironic, however, is that after demands to produce a male heir almost drove her insane, the Japanese government introduced a historic bill that would allow Masako’s daughter and other females to ascend the 2,000-year-old Chrysanthemum Throne. And, if all goes according to the government’s legislative agenda, this bill will be enacted into law well before Masako’s baby is born.

And why not? After all, some of history’s most successful and revered monarchs were women. And, though I find monarchies absurdly anachronistic, the most famous and respected monarch in the world today is undoubtedly Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.

At any rate, Masako (42) is finally pregnant again. But, if reports are accurate, it’s early days yet (6 weeks). And the only question on people’s minds in Japan is: is it a boy?

It’s easy enough to find out, of course. But I hope Masako has a sonogram just to alleviate stress and give herself the best chance to have as healthy a pregnancy as possible. (Although finding out that she’s pregnant with another girl might trigger a spontaneous abortion….But let’s not go there….) However, even if it’s a boy, I hope she makes everyone else wait until the child is born to find out!

Because, as we all know, so much can still go so very wrong….

Princess Masako, Japanese Imperial family, male heir