The waiting is now over for the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, who celebrated the birth of their first child -- a girl -- on Saturday, 8 1/2 years after their wedding.
The nation had been anticipating the birth ever since the Imperial Household Agency announced in May that the 37-year-old Crown Princess was three months pregnant. There were expectations that news of the Imperial birth would bring some cheer to a nation that has been in an economic slump since before the royal wedding.
Since their marriage in June 1993, the couple has gracefully borne the heavy pressure to produce a possible heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. In late 1999, the Crown Princess suffered a miscarriage amid intense media coverage of her reported pregnancy.