New japanese heir
 

Princess Kiko had recently given birth to a new born son who is the first male heir to the japanese throne in 40 years
more info and articles here.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060906/...ial_succession

Should we even care?

Aren't they just figureheads? This doesn't seem to be earth-shattering news to me.

*sings the wildly inappropriate Tradition from Fiddler on the Roof*

Wow, amidst all the hubub about heirs there didn't seem to be much in the way of congratulations towards the parents. BTW, isn't 5 pounds a little on the light side?

I read new Japanese hair, was kinda interested... but fairly disappointed once I corrected my mistake.

Oh good, maybe now they will withdraw the public demand to hang her. I hear the declining Japanese economy is mostly the fault of Princess Kiko due to her not having a son up until now.

Who even knew she was pregnant outside of Japan? I don't even remotely remember any news outlet reporting that she was expecting.

That's what drives their economy? Holy shit.

Glad I wasn't the only one.

<_<

You're confusing your Japanese princesses. Crown Princess Masako was the one who was under all the pressure to have a male heir.

Well I'm being sarcastic and am greatly exaggerating...maybe.

There has indeed been a public outcry against her (and other Princesses) inability to produce a male heir and some of those lead to death threats.

As for the economy, I have a quick story.

My company has very strong financial relations with many Japanese companies. Many of these companies have been around for a long time so there are some lingering old customs in upper management in a lot of these companies.

In the six years I've worked upper management for my company, we've had two large business deals fall though due to the Japanese company bailing on us. Both companies reasons pretty much simplified down to "not wanting to invest large sums of capital at the moment. Japan is currently without a male heir and this foretells of bad times ahead for our company and our country."

I doubt this is a belief held by most modern Japanese companies, but still yeah if it wasn't already know, Japan is pretty crazy.


No, actually Princess Masako wasn't who I was thinking of. After her announced pregnancy, Princess Kiko was being threatened that if she were not to have a male she was going to be publicly hung. And the Japanese economy took a nosedive around the time she was hospitalized (which turned out to just be a normal check-up) during her pregnancy a few months back.

Oh brother. I'd hate to work over there.

Their economy has been in a freakin' slump for over a decade >.> anyways, in one economy form, it can be argued that good news and happiness to people can drive the economy up again.

stupid econ :\

Should I feel behind and not up to date considering I had NO IDEA that Japan still even had a monarchy in place? The fact that there's a princess and japanese royal family was news to me. =\