‘Honorable Pregnancy’ Has the Japanese Going Ga-Ga

TOKYO — “Honorable Pregnancy,” screamed the giant headlines on a tabloid here Friday as Japanese rejoiced over reports that Crown Princess Masako, after more than six years of marriage, might at last be pregnant with an heir to the 2,600-year-old Chrysanthemum Throne.

The news came as a triumphant scoop for Asahi Shimbun. The newspaper reported in Friday morning editions that the former Masako Owada, a Harvard-educated diplomat, was showing signs of pregnancy.

The nation’s media gleefully deployed to follow the story in every detail, with tabloids breathlessly reporting that the princess, who turned 36 Thursday, had received two positive results from pregnancy tests and declaring that she is reported to have received help from fertility specialists.

The Imperial Household Agency said it was too early to confirm the pregnancy--but did not deny it. It said the princess is scheduled next week to visit the Imperial Hospital, reportedly for an ultrasound test. State-sponsored NHK television reported that Masako is believed to be in the fifth week of pregnancy and that the imperial infant is due Aug. 6.

“Princess Masako’s Millennium Baby,” proclaimed the Tokyo Sports Newspaper. “Entire Nation Overjoyed by Masako’s Pregnancy,” gushed another.

The exuberant tabloids were less than diplomatic in referring to the years of speculation about why the royal couple has not produced a child, but all is now apparently forgiven. “Stork Has Its Own Pace,” one headline said. “Hey, They Did It!! A Baby!!” said another.

Many said an imperial birth was just what Japan needed to lift its recession-induced gloom. The Sports Nippon tabloid declared that the royal baby was worth $200 billion in economic stimulus. “End-of-Century Recession is Resolved in a Flash,” it said.

Amid the joy, however, a number of Japanese women said they were appalled by the premature leak of an unconfirmed pregnancy, particularly in the unstable first trimester, and expressed concern that it will put even more pressure on Masako to produce an heir.

“I feel so sorry for her,” said Kaiyo Mochizuki, a 42-year-old homemaker. “The announcement came much too soon. If something goes wrong, what will she do now? Couldn’t they have left her alone for a while?”

“It’s a dreadful invasion of her privacy,” agreed feminist lawmaker Mizuho Fukushima.

She noted that although surveys show a majority of Japanese now prefer female babies, saying they are easier to raise and more likely to care for their elderly parents, such newfangled thinking will not be applied to the imperial family. Though Masako speaks five languages and holds three graduate degrees, she continues to be judged primarily by whether she can deliver a male heir.

“What’s awful is that, if it’s a girl, everyone, including the Imperial Household Agency, will be disappointed,” Fukushima said.

True to tradition, in the man-on-the-street interviews that helped fill countless hours of Masako coverage on television Friday and today, a few Japanese said they were so delighted by the news that they would welcome even a female baby. But most said they were hoping for a boy.

Under current law, a boy would be second in line after his 39-year-old father, Crown Prince Naruhito, to the throne.

No males have been born to the imperial family since 1965. Naruhito’s younger brother, Prince Akishino, has two daughters. Naruhito’s father, Emperor Akihito, is purported to be the 125th in an unbroken line of rulers that is said to date back to the original sun goddess, Amaterasu.

In fact, Japan has had seven empresses. But while the Japanese Constitution does not specify the sex of the throne’s occupant, a 1947 law states that the emperor must be male. Some Japanese say that law will be amended if the prince and princess produce no offspring or only female children.

But lawmaker Fukushima predicted that any such change is still a decade or two away. “If 10 or 20 years pass and still no male child arrives, then they might consider doing it,” she said.