INSIDE JAPAN from our view

Princess Aiko celebrates 4th birthday   Japan Times — Princess Aiko, the only daughter of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, visited the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Thursday to meet her grandparents, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, on the occasion of her fourth birthday. According to the Imperial Household Agency, the princess likes story-telling and exchanging simple letters with her mother and attending staff members. She enjoys watering vegetables and flowers in the garden of the Crown Prince's Residence near the Imperial Palace, and the agency released photos of the princess picking tangerines and harvesting potatoes with her parents.

 Aiko means Love-Child or Love-Girl in Japanese. Princess Masako seems too old to bear another baby. That means there is quite little hope for Princess Masako to have a boy who could succeed his father. So Aiko is gathering a lot of attention of our people. In Japanese Constitution, Imperials are considered just “symbol” of Japan and Japanese people. However, many people still love Imperial so much that who should succeed Emperor is a big controversy in Japan.

According to Imperial Law, woman cannot become Emperor. But more than half people feel it acceptable that Aiko should become Emperor after her grandfather and her father pass away. One is because we realize that it is good time to change the Imperial Law to fit a modernized world and one is because the younger brother of Crown Prince Naruhito is not so popular in Japan. If we do not change the Imperial rule, an unpopular man would become Emperor. And historically, Japan had had a lot of female Emperors. So there are many people who are for this change. What is more, Japanese Imperial Family have not experienced a boy birth for more than 40 years!!

Now, Aiko became 4 years old. Her feature seems so mild and clever to our people that most people love her so much. It would not take much time to change Imperial Law.