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Tuesday September 5, 1:44 PM Japan waits for royal birth Photo: AFP Click to enlarge TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's Princess Kiko will give birth on Wednesday, with many hoping for a baby boy who would become a long-awaited male heir to the throne -- and end for now a battle over whether a woman can ascend. Newspapers prepared extra editions and bridal and baby-related companies prepared to do brisk business once the 39-year-old princess gives birth on Wednesday by Caesarean section. If Kiko gives birth to a boy, it will be the first male heir of the world's oldest monarchy to be born since her own husband Akishino in 1965. "This is a cause for celebration regardless of the baby's sex," said Haruo Masuda, a 75-year-old strolling in central Tokyo. "But I would prefer a baby boy because it is better to keep a male lineage, which Japan made efforts to preserve for such a long time," he said. Kiko's pregnancy was a dream come true for conservatives as it led Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who steps down later this month, to drop his plans to introduce female succession. Kiko, a housewife, has two children, both girls, who were born in 1991 and 1994. Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako have had one child, four-year-old Princess Aiko, in more than 13 years of marriage. The US-educated Masako, who gave up a promising career as a diplomat to marry Naruhito, has suffered mental problems due to pressure to produce a male heir and to adapt to the tradition-bound monarchy. Opinion polls showed most Japanese supported female succession before Kiko's pregnancy in part out of sympathy for Masako, who rarely appears in public. "Crown Princess Masako is not a tool to create babies. I hope her condition gets better," said Kazumi Matsumoto, 34, an office worker. "A baby boy would solve the issue of succession for the time being. But it is only a matter of time before the discussion has to resume," he said. Housewife Hiromi Hayano, 48, agreed the royal birth would be "delightful" no matter the sex of the child. "I would question that it's only a boy who can succeed the emperor. I think the first child of the crown prince should succeed regardless of sex," she said. Tabloid newspapers have quoted Akishino as secretly confiding that the child will be a boy. But mainstream newspapers have largely shied away from predicting the sex of Emperor Akishino's fourth grandchild. Masako suffered a miscarriage in 1999 that was blamed on the intense media coverage swirling about her first child. "People are making so much noise about whether it's a boy or a girl. We should leave them alone and watch quietly," said Noriko Kuroda, a 35-year-old office worker. The royal baby is also expected to be a boost for the economy as more people may choose to start families in a nation whose population last year shrank for the first time since World War II. Toshihiro Nagahama, a senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, said that the number of births and marriages rose as a result of the last royal birth, of Princess Aiko, in 2001. He said Kiko's childbirth would also support share prices of baby-related goods and bridal companies. "I would say it is expected to bring about 150 billion yen (1.29 billion dollars) in economic impact on Japan through companies such as baby and bridal related industry," Nagahama said. "Japan's economy has grown from that of 2001 and people are expected to spend more on baby and bridal related things," he said.