TOKYO — PRINCESS MAKO and Komuro Kei were undergraduates when they first met in Tokyo back in 2012. Mako was drawn to Kei’s “smile that is like the sun”. Kei saw Mako as “the moon watching over me tranquilly”. The couple began dating and kept in touch while Mako studied abroad; in 2017, the young lovers got engaged.
The problems began when Japanese tabloids dug into Mr Komuro, and discovered that his mother had reportedly taken a loan of ¥4m ($35,000) from her ex-fiancé that she did not return. Commentators called Mr Komuro, a commoner, a gold-digger. They questioned whether his love for Mako was real. The couple delayed the marriage and Mr Komuro left Japan to study law in America, but the furore did not die down. Upon his return earlier this year, Japanese media seized upon his ponytail as further evidence of his unsuitability for their princess. (Hairstyles in Japan are important signs of social conformity; many schools require students to have straight, black hair.)
By most measures, the accusations are not scandal-worthy. But they do reflect broader anxieties around the changing nature of family, marriage, and identity in modern Japan. They have also taken a toll on the young couple. Mako has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Their wedding on October 26th was a subdued affair, without the typical formal ceremony. A small street protest against it was held on the same day, with citizens waving angry placards.
In order to avoid further questions about family finances, Mako decided not to take a lump-sum payment that royals leaving the family are entitled to, which in her case would have amounted to around ¥150m. This was the first time in Japan’s postwar history that such a payment has not been made. Mr Komuro lopped off his ponytail. The princess, while detailing the pain caused to her and her partner, said she was “very sorry for the people to whom we gave trouble”. Some might say that on the contrary, it was the people who tried to stop her marrying the man she loved who gave trouble to her, and to Mr Komuro.
The couple’s ordeal highlights several challenges facing the world’s oldest surviving hereditary monarchy. One is the imperial household’s struggle to adapt to a modern media environment. While the Imperial Household Agency, known as the Kunaicho, is masterful at managing family archives and fussing over traditional rituals, it struggles with public relations. It did little to correct misinformation that spread about the couple online. When Mr Komuro was allowed to make a rebuttal of his own earlier this year, it came in the form of a legalistic 28-page document with 36 dense footnotes—hardly the kind of thing that is likely to break through on social media.
Another is the harsh treatment of royal women, a magnified version of the sexism that many Japanese women face on a daily basis. Mako is not the first to be afflicted. Empress Masako, the wife of the current emperor, Naruhito, also suffered from stress-related illness amidst intense pressure to produce a male heir. Empress Michiko, her predecessor, lost her voice and stopped speaking for several months under immense psychological pressure.
Last, it has brought the family’s tenuous future to the fore. Mako’s departure leaves just 17 royals. In any case, Japan limits imperial succession to men; and only three potential male heirs remain: the emperor’s uncle, Prince Hitachi, who is 85 years old; his brother, Crown Prince Akishino, who is 55; and Mako’s younger brother, Hisahito, who is 15. Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has blocked moves to allow women to take the throne.
The affair also highlights how Japan’s politics, especially on social issues, are hostage to a vocal, conservative minority. Recent polls show that most Japanese are in fact supportive of Mako’s and Kei’s partnership. Some 85% favour allowing female succession. A similar dynamic—where the public is far more liberal than legislators—exists around gay marriage and the question of whether to allow couples to keep separate surnames, which Japanese law does not currently allow.
Like a certain British royal couple, the new Japanese royal couple have decided to make their future outside the stodgy confines of their homeland. Mako and Kei will soon join Harry and Meghan in America.
By The Economist
