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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
By Steve Herman
Tokyo
24 February 2006
Japan is facing a succession crisis, not for political leadership, but at the Imperial Palace, where there is a dearth1 of male heirs for the Chrysanthemum2 Throne. The situation has ignited a national debate over whether it might again be appropriate to have an empress on the throne.
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The last time a woman reigned3 over Japan was January 9, 1771, when Empress Go-Sakuramachi abdicated4 after nine years on the Chrysanthemum Throne to make way for her sickly 12-year-old nephew.
Japan has always preferred having a male sovereign: including Go-Sakuramachi, only eight women have sat on the throne in 2,000 years of imperial history. A law passed in 1947 limits candidates to a male descendent5 of an emperor.
However, if Japan wants to retain its imperial bloodline, a woman might have to take the reins6 of the world's oldest continual monarchy7 again. For no male heir has been born into the royal family in 42 years.
Yoichi Masuzoe
Lawmaker Yoichi Masuzoe of the governing Liberal Democratic Party is among those who support the idea of changing the rules.
"Imperial family and [the] imperial system is in crisis. We have to make haste - very rapidly," Masuzoe said.
The reigning8 emperor, Akihito, 72, has two sons and a daughter, and the two males are eligible9 for the throne under the current system.
But the older son, Crown Prince Naruhito, and his wife have one daughter, and it appears unlikely they will have another child. Naruhito's younger brother, Prince Akishino, is the father of two little girls.
It was announced that Prince Akishino's wife, Princess Kiko, is pregnant. If she gives birth to a boy, the succession problem is solved for the moment. But if she has another girl, there will be no males in the next generation eligible to become emperor.
In previous times, an emperor would turn to concubines if necessary to ensure male offspring. But that option is deemed unseemly for the 21st century, and would very possibly be opposed by Emperor Akihito's two modern daughters-in-law, who both come from commoner stock.
There is one other eligible, but little-mentioned royal male. Prince Katsura, 58, is a cousin of the current emperor. But he has never married and has been wheelchair-bound since suffering a serious stroke in 1988.
Repeated surveys indicate strong public support for an empress, in part because of the popularity of the young princesses.
Seiji Maehara
Democratic Party President Seiji Maehara, the leader of Japan's political opposition10, also thinks the time is right to change the succession law.
Maehara says it appears difficult to maintain the patrilineal system without resorting to concubines, so an empress is probably unavoidable in the future, and thus changes need to be made to allow a matriarchal line.
That argument does not go down well with Takeda, 30, no neutral observer of the controversy11. Takeda is a great great grandson of the Emperor Meiji, the great modernizer12 who died in 1912. Takeda is also a member of one of 11 aristocratic families stripped of regal status by the U.S. occupation following Japan's defeat in World War II.
Takeda rejects all the arguments for a matrilineal line, saying historical precedent13 was for women to act only as regents until a male from the imperial bloodline could assume the throne.
Tsuneyasu Takeda
Takeda, a scholar of imperial family history, points out that an empress would have a difficult time presiding over hundreds of annual Shinto ceremonial duties, which hark back to the pre-war era, when the emperor was considered divine.
Takeda says those who are in mourning, have recently given birth or are menstruating are barred from entering holy places, meaning an empress might not be able to conduct numerous Shinto rites14.
Takeda is author of a book entitled The Untold15 Truth of Imperial Family Members. He says the ultimate solution is to restore the branches of the royal family, such as his, that were cut off in 1945.
Proponents16 of the plan say that would ensure that the Japanese imperial bloodline's "Y" chromosome17, which only males carry, would be transmitted to subsequent generations of emperors, maintaining the unbroken line stretching back into antiquity18.
Liberal Democratic Party politician Yoichi Masuzoe says Takeda's proposal is ridiculous, because it would favor former aristocrats19, many with tenuous20 blood links to long-ago emperors, over contemporary female descendants of recent sovereigns.
Japan's Emperor and Empress
"As far as I know only one man would like to come back," said Masuzoe. "But if he traces back to the Imperial Family -- [it's] 600 years. The current emperor, Showa Emperor, Taisho Emperor, Meiji Emperor -- they worked very hard and they're really the cornerstone of our culture and our civilization. You abolish this to return some family relatives of long, long distant relatives? Personally, I cannot do that."
Prime Minister Junchiro Koizumi, as part of his sweeping21 reforms, had vowed22 to push through a bill allowing a woman to ascend23 to the throne. But news of Princess Kiko's pregnancy24 has put that political process on hold.
Princess Kiko is due to give birth in September, about the time Mr. Koizumi intends to step down, leaving the prime minister's successor to grapple with this sensitive issue. The eventual25 resolution will have serious ramifications26 for Japan's self-identity.
1 dearth | |
n.缺乏,粮食不足,饥谨 | |
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2 chrysanthemum | |
n.菊,菊花 | |
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3 reigned | |
vi.当政,统治(reign的过去式形式) | |
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4 abdicated | |
放弃(职责、权力等)( abdicate的过去式和过去分词 ); 退位,逊位 | |
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5 descendent | |
adj. 下降的, 降落的, 世袭的 n. 后代,子孙 =descendant | |
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6 reins | |
感情,激情; 缰( rein的名词复数 ); 控制手段; 掌管; (成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的)保护带 | |
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7 monarchy | |
n.君主,最高统治者;君主政体,君主国 | |
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8 reigning | |
adj.统治的,起支配作用的 | |
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9 eligible | |
adj.有条件被选中的;(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
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10 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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11 controversy | |
n.争论,辩论,争吵 | |
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12 modernizer | |
实现现代化的人 | |
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13 precedent | |
n.先例,前例;惯例;adj.在前的,在先的 | |
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14 rites | |
仪式,典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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15 untold | |
adj.数不清的,无数的 | |
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16 proponents | |
n.(某事业、理论等的)支持者,拥护者( proponent的名词复数 ) | |
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17 chromosome | |
n.染色体 | |
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18 antiquity | |
n.古老;高龄;古物,古迹 | |
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19 aristocrats | |
n.贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 ) | |
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20 tenuous | |
adj.细薄的,稀薄的,空洞的 | |
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21 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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22 vowed | |
起誓,发誓(vow的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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23 ascend | |
vi.渐渐上升,升高;vt.攀登,登上 | |
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24 pregnancy | |
n.怀孕,怀孕期 | |
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25 eventual | |
adj.最后的,结局的,最终的 | |
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26 ramifications | |
n.结果,后果( ramification的名词复数 ) | |
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