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| Masako and Naruhito are under pressure to
produce a boy |
Japan's Crown Princess Masako has taken part in her first public
engagement outside Tokyo since retreating behind closed doors a
year-and-a-half ago.
She accompanied her husband, Crown Prince Naruhito, to central Japan
for the World Exposition technology show.
Masako withdrew from public view in December 2003 suffering from
depression and anxiety.
The ailments were said to be due to the strains of palace life and
intense pressure to produce a male heir.
She has attended limited official events since but only in Tokyo.
Royal household officials cleared Masako, 41, to make the
250km trip on a bullet train to central Aichi province for the exposition.
She smiled as she walked a few steps behind her husband and met
officials at the show.
However, she was accompanied by a nurse, and the
household said the engagement did not signal a full comeback
.
"This does not mean the princess will perform duties actively," a
palace spokesman said. "Things will depend on the princess' condition."
Masako gave up a diplomatic career when she agreed to marry Naruhito.
The couple have one child, three-year-old Princess Aiko, but under
imperial law only a male heir can ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne.
The succession crisis is the most serious in Japan in centuries, and
has forced the government to consider changing the male-only succession
law.
(BBC) | 
Updated: 2005-07-21 09:19
