Japan's Princess Kiko has boy...YAY finallyyyyyy

Japan's Princess Kiko has given birth to a son, likely postponing a long-running debate over whether Japanese law should be changed to allow women to succeed to the throne - info from the imperial palace. (In the Pic: Princess Kiko, accompanied by husband Prince Akishino, arrives at a Tokyo hospital.
)

The boy is third in line to the throne, after Crown Prince Naruhito and Kiko's husband, Prince Akishino.

When the government previously proposed changing the law, polls showed that an estimated 70 percent of Japanese approved. Once Kiko's pregnancy was announced, however, public opinion switched, with Japanese saying it would be easier for Kiko to bear a son and resolve the succession issue for now.

Reigning empresses have been rare in Japan, usually serving as stand-ins for a few years until a suitable male could be installed. The last reigning empress was Gosakuramachi, who assumed the throne in 1763, according to AP.

Debate over the succession law was divisive and emotional. Some conservatives proposed a revival of concubines to produce imperial heirs, and others argued that allowing a woman on the throne would destroy a precious Japanese tradition.