Princess Kiko of Japan gave birth this morning to the country's future emperor, defusing the imperial succession crisis and provoking celebration across the country.

日本紀子妃今晨（九月六日）產下日本未來的天皇，化解王室繼承危機，同時舉國歡慶。

Commuters travelling to work were handed special editions put out by all the major Japanese newspapers after the princess gave birth to a 2.55kg baby boy by Caesarean section at 8.27am Japanese time. The baby prince, who has not yet been named, is expected to be the 128th Emperor of Japan after his grandfather, Emperor Akihito, his uncle Crown Prince Naruhito, and his father, Prince Akishino.

當紀子妃在日本時間早上八時二十七分剖腹生下二點五五公斤的男嬰後，通勤上班族人手一份日本各大報出的號外。這個尚未命名的小皇子，將是繼他祖父明仁、他伯伯德仁皇太子和他父親二皇子文仁之後，第一百二十八位日皇。

There had been unprecedented speculation over the gender of the child, who is the first male to be born into the family for nearly 41 years. The lack of a male heir threatened the long-term extinction of the world’s oldest monarchy. Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife, Masako, have a four-year old daughter, Aiko, but under law women are not eligible to take the throne.

這個孩子的性別曾引起空前揣測，他也是將近四十一年來皇室第一個出生的男嬰。缺乏男性繼承人，已經危及世界最老王室的長期存續。皇太子德仁和他的妻子雅子有個四歲的女兒愛子，但日本憲法規定，女性不能繼承皇位。

The Government was drawing up controversial plans to change the law to allow a reigning empress when it was announced that Princess Kiko, 39, who has two daughters, was pregnant. The arrival of a grandson to the Emperor means that such reforms will be put on hold indefinitely – although palace insiders say that the problem has been postponed, not solved, and that sooner or later there will have to be a change in the law.

日本政府正在草擬各種充滿爭議的辦法，希望修法讓女皇也可以繼位之際，已經育有兩個女兒的卅九歲的紀子妃傳出懷孕的消息。皇太孫誕生意味這些改革將無限期擱置，但宮內消息人士指出，問題只是延後，並未解決，而且遲早會修改憲法。

The birth will scuttle for now a plan to let women ascend the throne, an idea opposed by traditionalists eager to preserve a practice they say stretches back more than 2,000 years.

現在生出男嬰將毀了讓女性登上皇位的計畫，急欲保留延續兩千多年做法的傳統派一直反對這個想法。

That would disappoint many Japanese, most of whom favor giving women equal rights to the throne.

很多日本人也會感到失望，他們大部分支持女人應有平等權利繼承皇位。

"I feel a little sorry for the imperial family, "said Chieko Okano, 33, a Tokyo mother expecting her second child in November.

「我有點為皇室感到遺憾，」東京婦女高橋法子說，卅三歲的她即將在十一月生下第二個孩子。
 
"We need a grand plan for the long-term future of the nation," said professor Hideo Shinozawa of Gakushuin University, who taught both princes. "The old law was supported only by having many concubines. I think we should allow empresses."

曾教過兩位皇子的日本學習院大學篠秀夫教授說：「我們國家未來需要一套長期的宏觀計畫，舊法容許納妾，我想我們應該容許女皇繼位。」（綜合外電報導）