September 19, 2016
ASIA / PACIFIC
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5
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JAPANESE ROYALTY. Japan’s Prince Hisahito, left, is seen with his sisters, Princess Kako, center, and
Princess Mako, at a rice field of the Akasaka Detached Palace in Tokyo. Prince Hisahito recently turned 10 years
old. (Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP)
Japanese prince turns 10 amid
talk of Emperor’s abdication
By Mari Yamaguchi
The Associated Press
OKYO — Japan’s Prince Hisahito
turned 10 years old amid national
attention over the future of the
Japanese monarchy after Emperor
Akihito, his grandfather, indicated a wish
to abdicate.
Akihito, 82, in a rare public address in
August, expressed concern about fulfilling
official duties as he ages, suggesting he
would like to abdicate.
Hisahito, a fourth-grader who enjoys
playing
with
bugs
and
helping
rice-growing at a palace farm, is third in
line to the chrysanthemum throne. His
father, Prince Akishino, 50, is second after
his brother Crown Prince Naruhito, 56.
The government is reportedly con-
sidering enacting a special law allowing
Akihito’s abdication that would not be
applicable to his successors, although
discussions over revising the Imperial
House Law could reopen debate over the
T
divisive issue of whether to allow female
emperors.
The abdication issue renewed concerns
about aging and a shortage of successors in
the Imperial family — a 2,000-year-old
monarchy — which reflects the overall
concern in Japan’s declining and rapidly
aging population.
Akihito and his wife Michiko have four
grandchildren, but only Hisahito is eligible
to the throne under Japan’s male-only suc-
cession system. The three granddaughters
— Naruhito’s daughter Aiko and
Hisahito’s two sisters — will lose royal
status when they marry.
Current law, set in 1947, is largely
inherited from a 19th-century constitution
that banned abdication as a potential risk
to political stability.
An earlier government panel discussion,
launched out of concern about the lack of
male offspring, endorsed allowing female
emperors, but that thinking was shelved
when Hisahito was born in 2006.
CELEBRATING GANESHA. Raju Laljibhai Dipikar offers kheer, an Indian sweet, to an idol of elephant-
headed Hindu god Ganesha, in his home on the second day of the Ganesha Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India.
Every year, Dipikar goes out with his family to choose an elaborate statue of Ganesha and for two days the god
“lives” with the family in their tiny apartment in Mumbai, his very presence bringing them joy. And in return for
the love the family showers on him, he takes away all their problems, Dipikar says. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Bustling Mumbai slows for festival to honor Ganesha
MUMBAI, India (AP) — Every year
Raju Laljibhai Dipikar goes out with his
wife and three daughters and chooses an
elaborate statue of Ganesha, the elephant-
headed god so dear to devout Hindus.
For two days the god “lives” with the
family in their tiny apartment in Mumbai,
his presence bringing them joy. And in
return for the love the family showers on
him, he takes away all their problems,
Dipikar says.
So it is for tens of millions of other
families across western and southern
India when they mark the birthday of
Ganesha.
Beautiful idols of the god are purchased
and brought home, where they are
worshipped. After a few days — every
family has its own tradition — the idols,
made from plaster of Paris or clay, are
carried to a large body of water and
ceremonially immersed.
Nowhere is the festival celebrated with
more fervor than in Mumbai. For 10 days
every year the pace of India’s bustling
business capital slows to welcome the god,
known as the one who blesses new
beginnings and removes obstacles.
Apart from the small idols installed in
people’s homes, massive statues are set up
in temporary structures.
Flowers and coconuts and incense are
offered to the god as is his favorite sweet
treat — dumplings called modaks — made
of a crude sugar and coconut.
The last day of the 10-day celebration is
the biggest day, with massive crowds
singing and dancing as they carry their
idols through the streets, to immerse them
in the water, an act that symbolizes
sending the god back to his mythical home
in the snow-capped mountains taking all
the worries and problems of his
worshippers with him.
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