Told You So
Well, it’s a boy, and the politics surrounding this imperial birth will be interesting indeed to watch. Congratulations to the family on this unsurprising birth and a safe delivery.
Is it any wonder that Princess Masako scheduled a vacation overseas at just this precise moment? And how interesting, too, that the Imperial Household Agency actually let her go.
Some are already saying that one boy heir isn’t enough, so there is no end to the pressure the mother of the heir can feel, apparently.
But, according to a source close to the palace, the birth of a son will only postpone, not solve, the problem.
“Even if it is a boy, he would end up being the only member of the Imperial Family, and that would be intolerable,” the source told The Times. “To put it very bluntly, you need to have reserves.”
This strange, Byzantine soap opera continues. What are your thoughts?
l need sme 1 in nottingham who has a studio l wann becme fam 
perfeckt 10:10
i love all that is hello kitty but pandapple is so cute
My first thought:
I called it!
http://japundit.com/archives/2006/02/10/1977/
Send cash c/o this website. No checks or money orders, please.
My second thought:
We’re going to hear a lot of opinions on this from a lot of people about a subject that doesn’t concern them in the slightest. But that won’t stop them.
My third thought:
Welcome back, Marie. We missed you.
And it shouldn’t be any surprise that Masako has a trip abroad scheduled for this time. They’ve all known about this for a long time now.
September 6th, 2006 at 2:04 pmThis is such a stupid issue. Japan should just abolish royalty entirely.
September 6th, 2006 at 2:18 pmSince Marie invited people, presumably including those — such as myself — who are not concerned in the slightest with this issue…
I think a lot of Japanese are happy the latest royal baby was a boy for the simple reason that they no longer have to face the issue of a female emperor (empress?).
As seen in so many Japanese court cases that drag on and on for years without a clear judgment until the parties directly involved become infirm or die, Japan (the government? the society in general?) seems to absolutely HATE coming up with a clear and direct solution to the problems it is faced with, preferring to beat around the bush and let things fester, apparently hoping that it will “go away.”
Yes, this is a generalization, but not a distorting one.
September 6th, 2006 at 2:57 pmNeed Reserves?? – Yes exactly! it coulda bin TWINS..(hey dude, I’ll race you to the door):roll:
September 6th, 2006 at 3:10 pmI don’t see any delaying about the issue.
Koizumi had a bill ready to go before the Diet earlier this year to amend the law. He would have gotten it passed. If the public were passionate about it, he would have gotten it passed anyway.
Which is the thing–as with Yasukuni, the other issue that foreigners like to go on about–the Japanese themselves don’t give it that much thought.
September 6th, 2006 at 3:20 pmThere was strong opposition to a female empress 1. taking the throne and 2. taking over the hereditary line (ie, allowing the offspring of a female member of the royal family to become emperor) from a. the kunaicho (Imperial Household Agency) and b. conservatives in general.
The general public overwhelmingly supported Princess Aiko becoming empress (something approaching 75%, see the following article http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/HB23Dh01.html), but were more circumspect when faced with the issue of her offspring taking over the Imperial line.
I don’t think it would have been so cut-and-dried as Ampotan suggests, but of course, we’ll never know, which, in my opinion, seems to be the “best choice” for many Japanese:smile:
September 6th, 2006 at 3:44 pmYou think Koizumi didn’t know about what some conservatives and the Kunaicho thought before he had the bill drawn up? He’s from the conservative wing of the LDP.
The 75% figure is just an up or down opinion. Believe me, if 75% of the Japanese were passionate about the issue, Koizumi would have made sure that bill got passed.
September 6th, 2006 at 4:49 pm1. If it was a planned male child, why did the Emperor and Empress not stick around for the birth? Conspiracy theorist logic would dictate that they disapproved and wanted women to sit on the throne!
2. This won’t change anything, because the kid won’t have any brothers to provide alternate heirs. Without a change in the law, the same problem could easily occur later on.
“The 75% figure is just an up or down opinion.”
It’s not made up at all. But most people do not care that strongly about the Imperial family. Bread and butter issues are a lot more important.
September 6th, 2006 at 6:28 pmRaj,
I think you misunderstood what Amp meant by “up or down opinion.”
It means people were asked, “Do you approve or disapprove?” A “yes-or-no” opinion.
jp
September 6th, 2006 at 6:37 pmJP – Ok. It’s not an expression I’ve heard before!
September 6th, 2006 at 6:42 pmTaking one for the team, part II-dodging the bulle
Bottom of the 9th, 2 out, nobody on; she hits a game winning home run in the eyes of Japanese politicians, sparing them a heated debate about the succession for at least a few more years.
September 6th, 2006 at 8:19 pm[...] Try here and here. Much better. [...]
September 6th, 2006 at 10:37 pmCount me as one of those who don’t care much one way or the other about the imperial family and the sex of its successive figureheads, but I do have surprisingly strong feelings about that malignant cancerous bureaucratic growth that seems to secretly lobotomize each generation of the imperial family and anyone who marries into it. I’m a fervent kunaicho-abolitionist. Let the imperial family live once again in peace and–especially–obscurity.
September 7th, 2006 at 3:23 amUp and Down..Yes and No..sounds like somebody’s splitting heirs.
Let’s face it in 50 – 70 years time (say 2075) this kid will probaly be able to clone himself.
So he might just be the Last Emperor. (or version 1)..:wink:
September 7th, 2006 at 6:44 amJapanese royal family… yawn…
Where are the raunchy affairs? The car chases? The pot-smoking, nazi-saluting princes? The tragic young deaths?
Give me the British royal family anyday.
September 7th, 2006 at 8:02 amThere may well be raunchy affairs, it’s just that the Japanese press doesn’t, or isn’t allowed to, talk about them.
For example, it is widely rumored that the new baby’s father, Akishino, the Crown Prince’s younger brother, AKA The One Who Doesn’t Comb His Hair, would bonk anything in skirts before he got married.
In fact, rumor has it that his wife Kiko got pregnant by him twice before they got married, and these ended in abortions. Finally, her parents went to his parents and said, either get him to marry her or leave her alone.
It is slightly curious that he got married before his elder brother. In traditional Japanese families, the younger ones waited for the older ones, even if they had ready mates and the older ones didn’t. And the Imperial family is nothing if not a traditional Japanese family.
That stuff doesn’t happen much in Japanese society any more, but I knew one family of three sisters for which this was an issue in the early 1990s.
September 7th, 2006 at 12:47 pmScandalous~!
all we need now is a bit of beach-side toe-sucking and a tell-all account in book form by a former servant
September 7th, 2006 at 2:37 pmA UK side take on this sorry state of affairs is forthcoming on Japundit…
September 7th, 2006 at 6:27 pmhttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2346201,00.html
September 7th, 2006 at 8:17 pm“You think Koizumi didn’t know about what some conservatives and the Kunaicho thought before he had the bill drawn up? He’s from the conservative wing of the LDP.”
More relevantly, Crown Princess Masako’s father is a very influential behind the scenes player in Japanese politics (is there any other kind?), regularly using (abusing?) his top position at the Foreign Ministry to influence politicians. There still are some who wish to play the part of Taira no Kiyomori.
“Japan (the government? the society in general?) seems to absolutely HATE coming up with a clear and direct solution to the problems it is faced with, preferring to beat around the bush and let things fester, apparently hoping that it will “go away.”
Yes, this is a generalization, but not a distorting one. ”
It’s pretty distorted. After all, I’d argue Japan is not alone in avoiding issues until it has gone into complete crisis mode. To give just one example of an inexhaustible list, the Rwandan genocide was a direct consequence of the West sitting around in indecision. That’s far more serious than what sex gets to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne.
Really, if the bill to change succession is sent out back and told to commit seppuku, it’s hardly the biggest item on Japan’s agenda. Although Dentsu would like to tell you otherwise…
September 8th, 2006 at 6:54 am