Royal Birthday

My birthday was also the day when Japan's first prince since 1965 and possible heir apparent to the Emperor's throne was born.

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Courtesy of:



Wednesday 6 June 2006
TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese newspapers have celebrated the birth of the first new prince in four decades but said the nation still must consider female succession to avert a future crisis.

Princess Kiko was doing well a day after giving birth and the new-born baby, who has yet to be named, was moved into her hospital room, television networks said.

Workers remodeled the house of Kiko and her husband Prince Akishino for the baby, installing a fresh carpet and putting a small kitchen near the newborn prince's room, media said.

Kiko and Akishino, the emperor's second son, have two daughters, the last of whom was born in 1994.

"This is the happiest event for the Imperial family and we would like to congratulate them from the bottom of our hearts," the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun said in an editorial.

The boy becomes third in the line to the Chrysanthemum Throne, preserving male succession for another generation. Just a year ago, the government looked set to introduce female succession to alleviate a looming crisis.

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(The Imperial Family)