ninme

Let’s reign in the hyperbole a teensy weensy bit, shall we?

Seattle Times - Are Japanese finally ready for empress? By Bennett Richardson

TOKYO — Japan’s monarchy is so woven into the island nation’s traditions that it survived defeat in World War II and invasion by the Mongols, and predates the introduction of rice. Now, a 3-year-old girl may be about to bring 2,600 years of male-dominated tradition crashing down.

Okay, now, I know that Ms Richardson is probably really keen on having anything male-dominated come “crashing down” so it strikes me as odd that she would make such a sexist comment, to insinuate that just because a woman could be made Empress that 2,600 years of history would come crashing down.

(In other words, perhaps she meant “slightly changed.”)

Debate surrounding the possibility of a female monarch has grown since 2001, when the birth of Princess Aiko spotlighted the fact that the Chrysanthemum Throne was fast running out of male heirs. Aiko is the only child of the current heir, Prince Naruhito, and the Harvard-educated Princess Masako.

Naruhito’s younger brother Prince Fumihito is second in line for the throne, but beyond him there are only a few elderly uncles and doddering male cousins in the wings. No boy has been born into the family since 1965. Aiko and any of her future offspring are barred under law from becoming monarch because she is a girl. Royal watchers have grown anxious that the dynasty could die out unless women are allowed to take the throne.

Hmm, compromise?:

But a 26-century habit is hard to break — especially in Japan. The panel that will decide the future of the family and the fate of young Aiko is made up of both progressives and conservatives. The progressive camp says the situation leaves no choice but to allow an empress to ensure a stable succession. Furthermore, they argue, Japan has had eight female rulers in the past.

But purists say these women were simply caretakers and were always succeeded by heirs in the male line of descent, not their own children.

So let her be a “caretaker” until she has sons, if they’re so worried.

Although the Japanese emperor’s role as head of state is mainly ceremonial, many still hold the imperial family in awe as an entity that unites the country and makes it uniquely Japanese.

Rather than allowing an empress, the conservatives want to expand the royal family back from three to its prewar size of 14 families in hopes of ensuring a new crop of eligible males.

Well there’s that, but then what about little Aiko. I guess it would be a horrible thing to suggest an arranged marriage, wouldn’t it. I’ll leave that to the Japanese Imperial Conservatives.