Safe birth ceremony held for Japan's Princess Kiko

TOKYO, Aug 1 (Reuters) Japan's Princess Kiko, pregnant with a possible heir to the throne, donned a red and white silk ''obi'' sash in a traditional ceremony today to pray for the royal infant's safe birth.

No male has been born into Japan's imperial family since 1965, and the possibility that Kiko -- the wife of the emperor's younger son, Akishino -- might bear a son has halted plans to revise a law to give women equal rights to inherit the throne.

Kiko, 39, is expected to give birth through a Caesarean operation ahead of her late September due date because of a complication in her pregnancy, the Imperial Household Agency said last month.

The brief ''Chakutai no Gi'' ceremony is traditionally conducted in the ninth month of pregnancy on the Day of the Dog according to the zodiac calendar, because dogs are believed to have an easy time giving birth.

Akishino, clad in a morning coat, stood by and then tied the knot after Kiko's chief lady-in-waiting helped to wrap the sash -- a present from Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko -- over her ivory-coloured silk dress, an agency spokesman said.

Plans for Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako to take a rare overseas holiday from August. 17-31 have sparked speculation that Kiko's baby may be born then to spare Masako the strain of the celebrations that would follow the birth of a boy.

Naruhito and Masako, a Harvard-educated former diplomat who has been suffering from a mental illness due to the stress of adapting to royal life including pressure to bear an heir, have one child, 4-year-old Princess Aiko.

Aiko cannot inherit the throne under the existing law, which states that only males descended from an emperor can ascend the throne.

REUTERS MQA PM1012