【ESSAY】アグネスの地球うおっちんぐ

どうなる？女帝問題の議論悠仁さま誕生で国民に
考える時間的余裕

By Agnes Chan

　秋篠宮家の長男、悠仁（ひさひと）さまが誕生したことは、女性の天皇を認めるかどうかの皇室典範の見直し論議にも影響を与えている。アグネスは男児出産を期待されてきた皇太子妃雅子さまへの思いをめぐらせつつ、女性の生き方や伝統的な価値観ついて、個人的な見解を率直に語っている。

　Japan has a new prince. Born to the second son of the emperor, the new prince will be third in line for the throne following Crown Prince Naruhito and his father, Emperor Akihito.

　The new prince, named Hisahito, is the third child to Prince Fumihito and his wife, Princess Kiko. Kiko gave birth to Hisahito one week before her 40th birthday, more than 11 years after she had her last child, Princess Kako.

　The royal family has not given birth to a male heir for almost 41 years, and before Hisahito was born, Japan had been considering changing the Imperial House Law, which states that only males can inherit the throne. By allowing female heirs to the throne, the daughter of the crown prince, Aiko, could become the future reigning empress.

　The royal birth was greatly appreciated by conservatives who were opposed to allowing female heirs to the throne. They maintained that the purity of the bloodline is crucial to the royal family because the emperor is divine. The majority of Japanese expressed that they were open to having a female ascend the throne, but everyone was happy to welcome the new prince.

　Some people lamented the fact because allowing a female to ascend the throne would promote gender equality and give a fair chance for females in the royal family to be rightly recognized. With the birth of the new prince, Aiko may have lost the chance to become empress.

　Many economists were eager to cash in on the royal birth and hoped that it would jump-start the economy. So far, the fever has not been especially high, but eventually it might persuade couples to have more children and thus create more demand for children's goods.

　The birth of the prince also eased the pressure for Crown Princess Masako to produce a son. Masako has been suffering from a long spell of depression due to stress. The origin of the stress was not specified, but many speculated that the pressure to produce a male heir was one of her greatest anxieties. Now that there is a new prince, Masako can be freed of the burden to have another child.

　The general wish is that she can recover from her depression and return to her original radiant and happy self. Whether the crown princess feels a loss in not having her only child ascend the throne is not known, but the overall feeling is a sigh of relief.

　The birth of the new prince has one more favorable side effect and that is it gives the Japanese public more time to think about whether it supports the amending of its Constitution and the Imperial House Law.

　Last year, many in the government seemed eager to change the Imperial House Law and the Constitution not only to allow a female heir to the throne, but also to allow Japan to go to war.

　By tying the two issues together, the government had a better chance of getting the required consent from lawmakers. The government hoped for a fast approval.

　Now that there is no hurry to change the Imperial House Law to ensure an heir to the throne, the changing of the Constitution will solely be about whether Japan wants to maintain its denial of war. This time around, the Japanese people can have a clearer vision of what to discuss and have ample time for some soul-searching.

　Personally, I think it is perfectly fine to have a female ascend the throne. I hope that in the future it will happen in Japan. The new prince gives everyone some breathing room, but the problem is not solved. If nothing changes, he will be the sole heir to the throne in his generation. The pressure for him to produce a male heir will be even greater.

　With a new prime minister, a new prince and a recovering economy, Japan seems to be on a roll. However, we must be careful of where this momentum is taking us. We want to move forward to a progressive future, instead of to a conservative past. Whichever way the flow is going, we must be strong enough to maintain our own viewpoint.

　Welcome, Hisahito, you are now the light to the future -- let there be no darkness in your path.