Japan’s newborn prince left hospital for home on Friday as well-wishers waved flags and cheered the first royal boy to be born in 41 years.
The birth of Prince Hisahito last week pleased conservatives eager to keep an imperial line of male descent they say dates back more than 2,000 years, and halted discussions on changing a succession law so women could inherit the throne.
Helicopters circled overhead as the tiny prince, wrapped in a white blanket and cradled in the arms of his mother, Princess Kiko, was carried out of hospital.
His father, Prince Akishino -- the Emperor’s second son --walked alongside, smiling proudly.
“The baby looked like a healthy, bouncing boy. It was wonderful,” said Motuyo Okamoto, a 65-year-old Tokyo resident.
Cries of “banzai” (long life) and squeals rose up from several hundred people lining the streets around the hospital as the car drove slowly away, the parents smiling and nodding.
“For people my age, who went through the war, the birth of a boy is a really important thing,” said Teruo Ozawa, 76, who had come into Tokyo from neighboring Saitama especially to try and get a glimpse of the little prince.
Succession crisis averted
The Sept. 6 birth of Emperor Akihito’s first grandson averted a succession crisis, since only girls had been born into the family since the birth of Akishino in 1965. Hisahito is third in line for the throne, after his father and uncle.
Proposals to change the law to allow a woman to ascend the throne, currently limited to males, were supported by a majority of the public but opposed by conservative lawmakers including Shinzo Abe, almost certain to become Japan’s next prime minister.
Abe was quoted by Kyodo news agency on Friday as saying it was “desirable” to preserve succession through the male line.
“It’s only natural for us to be prudent about whether to change a long tradition of male inheritance,” he was quoted as saying during the recording of a television program.
Some who came to see the new prince agreed.
“We have an imperial system that’s gone on for several thousand years, and I don’t think we should suddenly change it,” said Kei Nakayama, a 39-year-old housewife.
Media frenzy
The high public interest -- police estimated 1,800 people came to catch a glimpse of the prince along his route home -- was matched by a media fever that had all but one television station broadcasting live from in front of the hospital.
Some of those who turned out, however, said they hoped the baby’s birth would usher in a new era for the imperial household, which remains cloistered compared with European counterparts.
“I’m actually in favor of changing the laws to allow a woman to inherit,” said Tomiko Omi, a 32-year-old housewife on her way home from shopping with one-year-old daughter Ryo.
“If the imperial family -- the most isolated, old-fashioned part of the nation -- changes and opens up, it will have a positive impact on the whole country.”
