Sunday, September 10, 2006

A relief?

Japanese princess gives birth to heir. The question is which Japanese princess. Here are two women with different destinies. Harvard graduate Masako gave up public life when she failed to produce an heir to the Japanese throne. She's a proud mother of 4 year old Princess Aiko but despite producing a healthy baby girl , having failed to produce an obligatory son and heir, she is seen as a failure. What we forget to see is a brilliant woman, who gave up a promising diplomatic career to marry her prince.

Princess kiko , married to the second son has managed to resolve the succession issue in Japan by producing a son. Does this take the pressure off Masako? Will she finally be rid of her guilt? Only time will tell.

Congatulations Princess Kiko.

3 comments:

kenju said...

I wonder about the pressure on her child. Think of what he will have to live up to in his life!

Thanks for the visit and comment today. You live in a beautiful city!

edina monsoon said...

kenju: yes indeed. The pressure will be E-normous. I love reading your blog:)

Anna, Fair and True said...

I was sad to hear it was a boy. I think a girl would have been good for the development of gender equality in Japan long-term, starting with female succession to the throne.