Munich, Germany - The German ambassador was summoned by Japan's Foreign Ministry on Monday after a top German newspaper published a picture of Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito with a joking caption questioning his fertility.
The Sueddeutsche Zeitung's weekly magazine supplement on Friday ran a cover picture of the prince and his wife with the words "Tote Hose" - literally "dead trousers" and slang for "nothing happening" - printed over the prince's groin.
Japan's Foreign Ministry complained, saying the royal family was a symbol of the unity of all Japanese and the article had hurt the feelings of the royal family and the entire nation.
The highbrow Munich daily said it would apologise.
'This is a crude personal insult to the Crown Prince' Japan's Foreign Ministry expressed regret over the incident and said it hoped it would not harm relations.
Ambassador Uwe Kaestner agreed the article was extremely regrettable but said it was not a matter for the government.
"It's regrettable and unfortunate and tasteless," a spokesperson quoted the ambassador as saying.
The magazine headline ran "The World's Oldest Monarchy Is on the Brink of Extinction" and an inside story, published on the prince's 41st birthday, recounted the couple's lack of an heir for the imperial throne.
"Naturally we didn't want to offend Crown Prince Naruhito or his wife. We will apologise to the (Japanese) ambassador for the incident," the magazine's editors Jan Weiler and Dominic Wichmann were quoted as saying in Monday's newspaper.
An embassy official in Berlin said it had so far received no reply to a letter of protest sent over the weekend.
"This is a crude personal insult to the Crown Prince," an embassy spokesperson said.
Crown Princess Masako, married to Naruhito for six years, had a miscarriage in December 1999 after news that she was pregnant sparked a media frenzy.
Japan's Imperial Household Law stipulates that only males may become emperor, and concerns have been mounting that 36-year-old Masako's chances of bearing a male to succeed his father are growing slimmer by the day.
Two former editors of the Sueddeutsche's magazine were fired in May last year after they published fictitious interviews by a Swiss journalist with stars such as Kim Basinger, Brad Pitt and Courtney Love. - Reuters
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