The Imperial Household Agency said Monday it will consider demanding an apology or a correction from a German newspaper for publishing a picture of the Crown Prince with a caption inferring he may be impotent.
The Sueddeutsche Zeitung used the picture on Friday, the Crown Prince's 41st birthday, on the cover of its magazine supplement Sueddeutsche Zeitung Magazin.
In a color photo of the prince and the Crown Princess, the German phrase "Tote Hose" (dead trousers) appears in yellow letters on the prince's trousers. The phrase can be translated as "nothing happens" or "impotent."
The caption reads, "The oldest monarchy in the world is in crisis."
The Japanese Embassy in Berlin lodged a protest Saturday with the newspaper. But Toshio Yuasa, vice grand steward of the Imperial Household, said Monday the embassy did not demand an apology or correction from the daily for the article.
"The agency asked (the Foreign Ministry) to protest to the newspaper after it briefed the agency about a report on a summary of the article," Yuasa told reporters.