Japan's Royal Family

This WaPost article is kind of bizarre. Entitled 'Tradition Afflicts a Modern Princess', it describes Princess Masako's struggle with living the rigid Japanese royal lifestyle - and, specifically, her struggle to fulfill her 'foremost imperial duty' - that of bearing a male heir to the throne. Last time I checked, it was the male, alone, who was responsible for determining the sex of the baby. (Am I mistaken? Is this urban myth?) Yet, the 1,623 words in this article say nothing of that fact - only that Princess Masako is under pressure from the courtiers to bear a male heir.

It all just seems a little bizarre to me - as if we've been transported back into the 1600's when men really did believe it was the woman, alone, who determined the sex of the child. Bizzarro, man...