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Princess Kiko (left), who is married to Japanese Emperor Akihito's second son, gave birth to the first male born in the imperial family in almost 41 years on Wednesday.
He will be third in line to the Japanese thrown after his uncle Crown Prince Naruhito, 46, and his father Prince Akishino, 40.
Though Japan has been ruled by six women since the monarchy began in the sixth century, a 1947 imperial household Law bars women from ascending the throne. The last empress reigned from 1762 to 1771.
The lack of male heirs -- nine girls have been born in the royal family since Akishino's birth in November 1965 -- forced Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to appoint a committee to examine the possibility of changing the 1947 law.
In November 2005, the panel suggested that the law be revised to allow succession by order of birth regardless of sex. This would have allowed Naruhito's daughter Princess Aiko, now four, to succeed her father.
After this move was opposed by legislators across the Japanese political spectrum, the government withdrew the proposal.
On Wednesday, Japanese raised their arms in Banzai salutes to their emperor and newspapers published special editions to herald the birth of the boy.
Photograph: Yuriko Nakao/AFP/Getty Images