Japan's Princess Kiko reportedly pregnant

TOKYO - Japan's Princess Kiko, wife of the emperor's younger son, is pregnant, news reports said yesterday.

Public broadcaster NHK said the Imperial Household Agency was set to announce the pregnancy, but agency officials said there were no such plans and they could not confirm it.

The princess's husband is Prince Akishino, the second son of Emperor Akihito. Her pregnancy, if confirmed, is likely to affect a debate on changing the succession law, because opponents of any change will want to wait and see if the baby is a boy.

No boys have been born into the imperial family since 1965, and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has said he wants to revise the law - which allows only males descended from emperors to become sovereign - in the current session of parliament.

Those opposed to changing the longstanding tradition insist on maintaining the male line, some even promoting the idea of reviving the princely houses abolished after World War Two in an attempt to find a male heir.

Some officials at the Imperial Household Agency have said in the past that they were pinning their hopes on Kiko and Akishino having a boy, who would be third in line to inherit the Chrysanthemum throne after his father and Crown Prince Naruhito.

Both of Kiko's two children are daughters. Kyodo news agency said she would likely give birth in September or October.

Recently, some members of Koizumi's cabinet have questioned his plans, arguing that there was no rush to change the law.

If the succession bill were to be passed, 4-year-old Princess Aiko, the daughter Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, would eventually become Japan's first reigning empress since the 18th century.

Japan has had eight reigning empresses, but traditionalists stress that none of the female rulers passed on the throne to children who were not heirs of an emperor.

The reports of the pregnancy even affected the stock market, boosting share prices of makers of baby care goods Pigeon Corp., which rose 5.7 per cent to 1,777 yen, and Combi Corp., which climbed 9 per cent to 850 yen.

- REUTERS