10/03/31 13:53:39 XiIsLLPc
>>73 つづき
Mr Koizumi defended his haste in pushing the Bill through the current parliamentary session.
He said this was necessary so that Princess Aiko could be educated “with the awareness that she
will one day assume the throne”.
But his contentious Bill has already unleashed a fierce revolt within the Cabinet,
drawing open criticism from the Foreign and Finance Ministers.
More than 135 ruling party MPs have also expressed opposition to the move. They believe
that it would corrupt an imperial line that is supposedly unbroken as far back as the Sun Goddess.
Princess Kiko’s pregnancy provides eight months of breathing space.
The traditionalists do not have many suggestions in the event that there is no male heir,
but they have time to produce some. Some have proposed, in a bizarre echo of history, that
Prince Naruhito be introduced to concubines and encouraged to breed until a boy is born.