An empress on the Chrysanthemum Throne
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO -
Media reports suggesting that Japan's Crown Princess
Masako is suffering from severe depression - linked to
heavy pressure on her to produce a son and heir - has
revived a debate over the idea of allowing an empress to
occupy the 2,000-year-old Chrysanthemum Throne.
Masako and her husband, Crown Prince Naruhito,
have a two-year-old daughter, Aiko.
Japan's
constitution permits only sons to inherit the throne,
the world's oldest unbroken hereditary monarchy. The
emperor is considered a symbol of Japanese culture and a
Shinto deity, a religion that has no female priests.
But public sentiment appears to be shifting away
from tradition. Surveys indicate that more than 70
percent of the public say they would be happy if
Masako's daughter were to take over the monarchy since
she is the first and still the only child of the crown
prince.
"The public would welcome the reign of
an empress. But in reality, given the objection of
powerful conservatives to accepting women into important
positions, a change is going to be difficult," explains
Yuko Kawanishi, who teaches sociology at Tokyo Gakugei
University.
"The crown prince, 44, and the
princess, 40, have no son, but a daughter. Naturally,
the possibility of their child becoming empress is being
discussed among politicians and constitutional law
specialists," said the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's
largest-circulating daily newspaper.
While
historical documents show that empresses did rule
several centuries ago, Japan's Meiji Constitution speaks
of the country being ruled by a line of emperors
"unbroken for ages eternal". Article Three of the
current constitution, which replaced the Meiji charter,
states that only males can take over the Chrysanthemum
Throne.
Emperor Hirohito ruled Japan before and
during World War II as a living god, commanding a
fiercely loyal military and public until Japan's defeat
in 1945.
Gender equality disturbs
conservatives Against this backdrop, changing the
law to allow an empress to reign - and given the
alteration of notions of gender equality this would
bring - is deeply disturbing to Japan's influential
rightists.
The conservative Shukan Bunshun, a
leading weekly news magazine, quoted imperial household
watchers as saying a law to usher in female accession to
the throne would be too complicated and would pose a
risk to the continuation of the monarchy.
"When
an empress has to marry, the choice of a husband becomes
too delicate a problem. As a male, his influence on the
imperial line can be too powerful and thus pose a
challenge to the hereditary importance of the lineage,"
the magazine quotes an unnamed source as saying.
The article says this is an important
consideration in the debate on changing the current law.
But this contrasts with support for an empress
in Japan's increasingly westernized society, one in
which more women are now delaying marriage and choosing
to not have children.
Aiko was born to Masako
Owada, a former career diplomat, after more than eight
years of married life and some infertility treatment.
Pressure to produce a son intensified this past
year as Princess Masako approached her 40th birthday,
leading to her depression and apparent nervous
breakdown, according to news reports.
She is now
reported to be "resting", according to the imperial
agency, which supervises and reports on the imperial
household. The media have published photos of a villa in
Karuizawa, a mountain resort, where she is living in
seclusion with her mother and daughter.
The
problem surfaced earlier in May, when her husband
crossed the lines of traditional restraint in Japan,
making the shocking revelation during a press conference
that his wife is "exhausted by trying to adapt to life
in the imperial family since their marriage".
Crown Prince Naruhito spoke - media reports
called it a "public outburst" - on the eve of his
departure, alone, to Europe where he attended the
wedding of the crown princes of Denmark and Spain.
Prince lashes out at royal household
He also accused the imperial agency of "denying
Masako's career and her character".
The remarks
caused a stir in Japan, forcing the stubborn and
powerful imperial agency to quickly announce it would
"take more care to do its best for the princess".
But on Friday the agency announced, in yet
another sign of its powerful control over the imperial
family, that it has not scheduled a press conference for
the prince, who returned from Europe on May 25. He would
be expected to be questioned about his wife's condition
and his views about imperial household pressures and an
heir.
Still, Prince Naruhito's rare expression
of displeasure has touched off a storm of new media
reports that has continued for weeks. News magazines
have been portraying the lives of the Japanese Imperial
Family as being extremely lonely, with very little
social interaction with friends.
"The royal
family is nurtured by the imperial agency to be a symbol
of Japan's past. This is why female members of the
Japanese monarchy must always be attentive to their
husbands and walk behind them," says sociologist
Kawanishi of Tokyo Gakugei University.
These
customs dictate the life of Masako, who spent her
childhood abroad, speaks six languages and graduated
from Harvard University.
For example, while
Prince Naruhito said his wife considered her role as
that of being a diplomat for the monarchy, in reality
the imperial agency curtailed her dreams by putting
priority on producing a male heir - and barring her from
traveling overseas for some time.
"If Masako
thought her role was to be diplomat, then that is a
mistake. As crown princess, her duty is family,"
commented the conservative Shukan Bunshun.
Gregory Clark, head of Tama University, says the
latest reports on Princess Masako reflect a "serious
development in Japanese society".
"The situation
represents a clash between the younger crown prince and
the conservative imperial agency. Both the crown prince
and his wife, Masako, would like to see their daughter
become empress and with the public behind them, the
conservatives could be beaten," he says.
(Inter
Press Service)
Jun 2, 2004
No
material from Asia Times Online may be republished in any form without written
permission.
Copyright
2003, Asia Times Online, 4305 Far East Finance Centre, 16 Harcourt Rd,
Central, Hong Kong
