Aiko, Princess Toshi

Birth

On 1 December 2001, the Crown Princess gave birth to a baby girl. It was their first child after 8 years of marriage for the then 37-year-old crown princess and 41-year-old crown prince. Princess Aiko was born at Imperial Household Agency Hospital at 2:43 PM and was 49.6 centimeters tall and weighed 3,103 grams. The Crown Prince was in the delivery room during the birth and the Crown Princess was attended by a 12-person medical team with four doctors. The Crown Princess was eight days short of her 38th birthday when she gave birth to Aiko.

Name

In a break with tradition, the name of the princess was chosen by her parents, instead of by The Emperor. It was selected from clause 56 of Li Lou II, one of the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Mencius:

"One who loves the others will be constantly loved by them; one who respects others will be constantly respected by them."
(愛人者人恆愛之，敬人者人恆敬之。)

Aiko, the princess's personal name, is written with the kanji characters for "love (愛)" and "child (子)" and means "a person who loves others". The princess also has an imperial title, Princess Toshi (敬宮 toshi-no-miya), which means "a person who respects others". This formal title would be dropped if she were to marry a commoner.

Personal life

Princess Aiko began her education at Gakushuin Kindergarten on 3 April 2006. She left kindergarten on 15 March 2008. On 18 March 2014, Princess Aiko finished at Gakushuin elementary school, then entering Gakushuin Girl's Junior High-school.

On her eighth birthday, it was revealed her interests include but are not limited to: writing Kanji characters, calligraphy, jump rope, playing piano and violin, and writing poetry.

In early March 2010, Aiko began to stay home from school due to, along with other girls, being bullied by her elementary school classmates. Aiko returned to school on a limited basis on 2 May 2010. After returning to school, a senior palace official said that she would attend a limited number of classes accompanied by her mother, upon advice from a doctor at the Crown Prince’s household.

In November 2011, Aiko was hospitalized with pneumonia.

Throne

The Imperial Household Law of 1947 abolished the Japanese nobility; under provisions of this law, the imperial family was streamlined to the descendants of Emperor Taishō. The laws of succession in Japan forbid inheritance by or through females. If the laws were changed, Aiko would be second in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne.

Debate

The birth of Princess Aiko sparked debate in Japan about whether the Imperial Household Act of 1947 should be changed from the current system of agnatic primogeniture to absolute primogeniture, which would allow a woman, as firstborn, to inherit the Chrysanthemum Throne ahead of a younger brother or male cousin. Although Imperial chronologies include eight empresses regnant in the course of Japanese history, their successors were always selected from amongst the members of the paternal Imperial bloodline, which is why some conservative scholars argue that the women's reigns were temporary and that male-only succession tradition must be maintained in the 21st century. Though Empress Genmei was followed on the throne by her daughter, Empress Genshō, Genshō herself was succeeded by her brother's son, thus keeping the throne in the same agnatic line; both Genshō and Genmei, as well as all other empresses regnant and emperors, belonged to the same patriline.

A government-appointed panel of experts submitted a report on 25 October 2005, recommending that the Imperial succession law be amended to permit absolute primogeniture. On 20 January 2006, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi used part of his annual keynote speech to address the controversy when he pledged to submit a bill to the Diet letting women ascend to the throne in order that the Imperial throne be continued into the future in a stable manner. Koizumi did not announce a timing for the legislation to be introduced nor did he provide details about the content but he did note that it would be in line with the conclusions of the 2005 government panel.

Birth of male cousin

Proposals to replace agnatic primogeniture were shelved temporarily after it was announced in February 2006 that the Crown Prince's younger brother, Fumihito, Prince Akishino and his wife Kiko, Princess Akishino were expecting their third child. On 6 September 2006, at 8:27 a.m. (Japan Standard Time), Princess Kiko gave birth to a son, Hisahito, who is third in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne under the current law, after his uncle, the Crown Prince, and his father, Prince Akishino. The prince's birth provided the first male heir to be born in the imperial family in 41 years. On 3 January 2007, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe announced that he would drop the proposal to alter the Imperial Household Law. Therefore, it seems unlikely that the succession laws will be changed to allow Princess Aiko to ascend the throne.

Royal functions

She visited a special exhibition on the 150th anniversary of Japan-Italy diplomatic relations on 5 April 2016 at the Tokyo museum.

Titles and styles

Aiko is styled as Her Imperial Highness The Princess Toshi.