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 TOKYO (AP) - Japanese Emperor Akihito celebrated the September birth of his grandson — the imperial family's first male heir in four decades — in a New Year's poem issued to the public on Monday.
Prince Hisahito's Sept. 6, 2006, birth to Princess Kiko, the wife of the emperor's second son Akishino, was hailed by royalists for defusing a looming succession crisis in one of the world's oldest imperial systems, which allows only male rulers.
"Rejoicing with us / on the birth of our grandson ... The voices of the people — I am happy hearing them," read the poem written by the 73-year-old emperor.
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