Japanese weeklies claim Princess Masako wants divorce

TOKYO - Princess Masako is so weighed down by depression and the demands of Imperial life that she wants a divorce, according to the Japanese press, as opposition grows to plans to allow her child, Princess Aiko, to sit on the Chrysanthemum Throne.

Several weekly magazines say that after 13 unhappy years in the cloistered Imperial Palace, the Harvard-educated former diplomat has had enough and is looking for a way out of her marriage to Emperor Akihito's son, Crown Princess Naruhito.

The Imperial Household dismisses the speculation.

The 42-year-old princess has spent the last two years largely out of public sight and has been diagnosed with a mental disorder that many blame on her struggle to produce a male heir to an institution that claims to be 2,600 years old.

Masako came under intense palace pressure to have another baby after giving birth to her only child, Princess Aiko in 2001.

Her subsequent illness has sparked a succession crisis and forced the government to begin revising the Imperial House Law, which currently prevents females from ascending the throne.

A government panel recently recommended changing the law and polls suggest that the public overwhelmingly supports the idea of an empress in the palace, which has not produced a boy since 1965.

But with just over a month left before the revision is sent to parliament, the plan has run into staunch opposition from conservatives, including leading members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Former Prime Minister Yoshio Mori and the head of the LDP's Diet Affairs Committee, Hiroyuki Hosada both warned recently that the succession issue could 'split the country' if handled badly.

"Opposition is growing. The situation is precarious," said Mr Hosada.

Tokyo's powerful governor, Shintaro Ishihara has also criticised the bill as 'too hasty.' The Association of Shinto Shrines, which has traditionally harvested votes for the LDP in local districts, has warned that it will withdraw support from anyone who votes for the bill, a potentially serious threat to the power base of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who supports a female emperor.

Opponents were galvanized on Wednesday by a Central Tokyo rally of 1,000 people at which over 170 Diet members signed a cross-party petition opposing the legislation.

At least one member of the imperial family has also told the government not to buck tradition.

The emperor's cousin, Prince Tomohito believes the imperial bloodline, which traditionalists claim has endured for 125 generations of emperors, should not be diluted by 'outsiders.' "There is no need to change the law," said the prince, who recommends reinstating the tradition of concubines or allowing members of the family expelled after World War II to return.

The latest speculation about Princess Masako's state of mind has gathered pace as the debate on the succession issue heats up.

"There are very few people who actually say the words divorce but they think it,"said Yagi Hidetsugu, an associate professor at Takasaki Keizai University in a weekly magazine article this week.

"Her withdrawal from the imperial family would certainly solve a lot of problems."

- INDEPENDENT