It's a girl!!

November 30, 2001 11:46 PM

It's a girl!! Japanese Crown Princess Masako gives birth to a daughter. Congratulations to the Imperial family and to MeFi readers in Japan.
posted by shylock (15 comments total)

Wonder why they don't say anything about the in-vitro fertilization process. I am constantly amazed by how closely news sources here toe the official line (after over eight years of trying to have a baby, the closing-in-on-forty Crown Princess finally hits the jackpot) and refuses to speculate on the absolutely shocking possibility that the Imperial family had to resort to modern technology to perpetuate the lineage.

But I think it's fantastic anyway. Congratulations indeed. Here's hoping she gets none of pop's good looks. heh heh...
posted by Bixby23 at 12:49 AM on December 1, 2001

Why congratulate "MeFi readers in Japan?" Did they help impregnate her or something?
posted by rushmc at 6:18 AM on December 1, 2001

hopefully she's an empress, too :)
posted by kliuless at 8:35 AM on December 1, 2001

Yes! Good news! I like good news. =)
posted by ZachsMind at 4:54 AM on December 2, 2001

Congratulations - it's a little bundle of constitutional crisis!

I'm all for the extinction of monarchies, but I'm not holding my breath. By all means, give the girls a go, but expect much hand wringing and sucking of teeth before this happens. In the meantime, people are going nuts here, lining up around the palace to pay respects like it's the second coming (or the first, depending on how you view it).

Anyone else hear the rumours of anonymous sperm donations from members of the Self Defense Forces that clung to the first pregnancy like... ah, forget it.
posted by jeremiah at 5:52 AM on December 2, 2001

Yes, anyone read the New Yorker article on the subject? ["A Dynasty Falters," by Murray Sayle, 6/12/00] I was looking for it online, but I couldn't get it. :(
It goes into why this situation has never arisen before (girls as heirs to throne), and why there is a crisis regarding a female heir, as well as the pressure on the Crown Princess. (Interestingly, tradition has it that the Imperial Family traces its descent from a goddess.) But this Atlantic Monthly article has some interesting stuff too.
posted by Charmian at 7:44 AM on December 2, 2001

ruchmc, the rumors are that maybe one of them did. :)
posted by donkeymon at 10:10 AM on December 2, 2001

Wonder why they don't say anything about the in-vitro fertilization process.

Because it's nobody's damned business?
posted by Dreama at 10:35 AM on December 2, 2001

Because it's nobody's damned business?

If the people of a country are ponying up $200 million a year so you can live in luxury and all you have to produce for it is an occasional zygote to keep the dynasty going, not only is it somebody's damned business, they're entitled to nightly "State of the Endometrium" reports if they want them. If the royal family doesn't like it, they can damned well get a job like the rest of us.
posted by rodii at 10:41 AM on December 2, 2001

Well, under that premise, since the people are also paying for the royals' food and drink, perhaps a tally of everything each royal consumes each day should be publicly disseminated, along with a listing of the time and quality of all of the royal urination and bowel movements. If the royal family doesn't like it, they can damned well get a job like the rest of us.
posted by Dreama at 12:07 PM on December 2, 2001

dreama:

bad analogy. the only function of royals is to make more royals. that's it. their employers have a right to information regarding their job preformance.
posted by signal at 1:05 PM on December 2, 2001

Look, Dreama,

I'm sorry if my meaning wasn't clear, but my point was not whether it's anybody's business or not. Had Charles and Di, for example, been in same situation way back when, the Guardian, Times and everybody else would've been going wild with speculation on why, after eight years of trying, the royal couple were suddenly able to have a child.

The Japanese media is infamous for never, but never, stepping over the line of what the "official" word is. This is even true with editorials, which really defeats the purpose of having them in the first place. So rather than wondering why they aren't telling us the truth (which, indeed, is not really anybody's business), I was lamenting the impoverished state of real, honest-to-goodness reportage in Japan.

But I do think you may have been a bit quick to jump the gun on your comments, and more interested in slapping me with a sarcastic comeback than in starting a discussion.
posted by Bixby23 at 4:38 PM on December 2, 2001

Well, under that premise, since the people are also paying for the royals' food and drink, perhaps a tally of everything each royal consumes each day should be publicly disseminated, along with a listing of the time and quality of all of the royal urination and bowel movements. If the royal family doesn't like it, they can damned well get a job like the rest of us.

Yeah! And here I thought you were just clueless.
posted by rodii at 8:17 PM on December 2, 2001

I'm neither clueless nor seeking witty comebacks, and clearly everyone is missing my point. To wit:

Whether or not the "job" of the royals is to make more royals or to simply sit around having tea and cakes, they are still entitled to some modicum of privacy regarding essentially personal matters -- especially those which have no bearing on their job function, such as they are. Just as it isn't necessary, polite or appropriate for the crown prince's daily eating and bathroom schedules to be disseminated, discussed or speculated upon, it isn't necessary, polite or appropriate for the crown princess's fertility issues to be hashed out in public either -- including discussions of unconfirmed ideas of how the princess conceived.

It's a private matter -- regardless of who is bankrolling them, regardless of how other royals have been treated by an overly-intrusive press, regardless of anything. These are still people whose personal business is their own, and ought to stay that way.
posted by Dreama at 9:05 PM on December 2, 2001

Dreama,

Nobody's saying that the infertility thing should be investigated, just that the lack of investigation is evidence of how much the toadying and astoundingly sensationalistic media in Japan is sticking to the line about how to handle the crown princess.

In other news:
The street I live on has Japanese flags hanging from every street light and utility pole, and lots of businesses have signs up welcoming the potential hieress.

Note also that confirmation that Princess Masako was expecting was big enough to warrant an mass-email on the cellphone email system here. The only other thing that's been such big news in the past year was the WTC attacks.

Congratulations - it's a little bundle of constitutional crisis!

True enough, jeremiah.
posted by chiheisen at 9:22 PM on December 2, 2001