2006年VOA标准英语-Royal Pregnancy Delays Resolution of Japan

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

参考例句：

• There is a dearth of good children's plays.目前缺少优秀的儿童剧。
• Many people in that country died because of dearth of food.那个国家有许多人因为缺少粮食而死。

2 chrysanthemum   

n.菊，菊花

参考例句：

• Each mourner wore a black armband and a white paper chrysanthemum.每个吊唁的人都佩带着黑纱和一朵白纸菊花。
• There are many species of chrysanthemum.菊花品种很多。

3 reigned   

vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式）

参考例句：

• Silence reigned in the hall. 全场肃静。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Night was deep and dead silence reigned everywhere. 夜深人静，一片死寂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 abdicated   

放弃（职责、权力等）( abdicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 退位，逊位

参考例句：

• He abdicated in favour of his son. 他把王位让给了儿子。
• King Edward Ⅷ abdicated in 1936 to marry a commoner. 国王爱德华八世于1936年退位与一个平民结婚。

5 descendent   

adj. 下降的, 降落的, 世袭的 n. 后代，子孙 =descendant

参考例句：

• With no direct descendent, who will succeed to the title? 没有直系后裔，谁来继承爵位呢？
• He is a descendent of Queen Victoria. 他是维多利亚女王的后代。

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

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

7 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

8 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

9 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

10 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

11 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

12 modernizer   

实现现代化的人

参考例句：

13 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

14 rites   

仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to administer the last rites to sb 给某人举行临终圣事
• He is interested in mystic rites and ceremonies. 他对神秘的仪式感兴趣。

15 untold   

adj.数不清的，无数的

参考例句：

• She has done untold damage to our chances.她给我们的机遇造成了不可估量的损害。
• They suffered untold terrors in the dark and huddled together for comfort.他们遭受着黑暗中的难以言传的种种恐怖，因而只好挤在一堆互相壮胆。

16 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

17 chromosome   

n.染色体

参考例句：

• Chromosome material with exhibits of such behaviour is called heterochromatin.表现这种现象的染色体物质叫做异染色质。
• A segment of the chromosome may become lost,resulting in a deletion.染色体的一个片段可能会丢失，结果产生染色体的缺失。

18 antiquity   

n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹

参考例句：

• The museum contains the remains of Chinese antiquity.博物馆藏有中国古代的遗物。
• There are many legends about the heroes of antiquity.有许多关于古代英雄的传说。

19 aristocrats   

n.贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many aristocrats were killed in the French Revolution. 许多贵族在法国大革命中被处死。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• To the Guillotine all aristocrats! 把全部贵族都送上断头台！ 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

20 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。

21 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

22 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

23 ascend   

vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上

参考例句：

• We watched the airplane ascend higher and higher.我们看着飞机逐渐升高。
• We ascend in the order of time and of development.我们按时间和发展顺序向上溯。

24 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

25 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

26 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》