07/12/13 17:27:25 Xqo/MeBy0
URLﾘﾝｸ(news.yahoo.com)
Japan's tiny prince deserves heir's privileges: MPs
Japan's tiny Prince Hisahito should be treated with more reverence as third in line to the imperial Chrysanthemum Throne,
conservative lawmakers said on Wednesday.
Any change in his treatment would underline the fact that under current law Princess Aiko, daughter of heir to the throne Crown Prince Naruhito,
is of relatively low status and will be forced to leave the imperial household on marriage.
The prince's birth just over a year ago silenced a debate over whether to allow females, starting with his 6-year-old cousin Aiko,
to ascend the throne because no male heirs had been born into the imperial household for more than 40 years.
"We lawmakers are very concerned about how someone who has a very high chance of inheriting the throne will be brought up to become emperor,"
said Koichi Hagiuda, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) politician.
Hagiuda, and other members of a group which aims to protect imperial traditions, met officials from the Imperial Household Agency
and distributed a list of financial and other privileges granted to Aiko but not to Hisahito.
"They told us that they are making efforts to ensure that his actual treatment will not be inferior,"
said LDP lawmaker Yoshinobu Shimomura, the group's chairman.