The Japanese do not like it because it does not meet moral standards. But Princess Mako is determined to marry her fiancé. And even leaves the imperial court. What is it like to be a woman under the Japanese imperial dynasty?
After four years of waiting, Japanese Princess Mako (Empress Naruhito’s niece) is finally going to marry her student lover Kay Komura. The imperial court announced that the civil marriage would take place on October 26. But most Japanese are not thrilled at all.
Why don’t they like Kay Komura?
Up to 90% of the country’s population believe that the groom does not meet even the average moral standards of the country, not to mention the particularly high standards of the imperial family. His mother allegedly had unpaid debts to her ex-fiancé and was illegally receiving a widow’s pension.
It was because of these accusations that the imperial court postponed the wedding for so long. The groom was even talked about as a “demon” who secretly recorded conversations with the princess and her parents. And a few days ago, a real explosion of attacks on Kay Komur broke out on the Internet – because he tied his hair in a ponytail.
All this, obviously, seriously injured the princess, who will soon turn 30 years old. The official announcement of her wedding even said that she was suffering from a “complex post-traumatic stress disorder.” According to Dr. Tsuyesa Akiyama, the princess felt that the people who spread all this about her fiancé were trampling on her human dignity.
Observers are wondering if this is another case where the media is destroying the lives of women from the imperial court. They recall that Empress Michiko, the first woman without “blue blood” at court, once resigned and lost the gift of speech for several months after the media accused her of misconduct. Her daughter-in-law Masako, who succeeded her as empress, has been suffering from a mental disorder for two decades only because she cannot give birth to a male heir to the throne.
The future newlyweds plan to move to New York. Komura’s fiancé recently passed the exam for a lawyer in this city and now works for a law firm in Manhattan. And the princess, who declares herself a good connoisseur of Japanese art, has already got a job in one of New York’s museums. Mako seems to want to burn all the bridges behind him. She refused to take part in the traditional ceremony, which is required when leaving the imperial court. She also did not want to receive a dowry of 1.2 million euros.
However, not everyone is convinced that the princess acts completely selflessly. After all, for all the years of resistance against her fiancé, she has not given up her status, which provides her with 70,000 euros a year. Many Japanese believe that the princess should be grateful and not marry against the will of the people.
What is it like to be a woman under the Japanese imperial dynasty
The tension around the princess’s marriage is becoming an increasingly heavy burden for the imperial court. Even now, social networks are full of accusations that her parents did not raise their rebellious daughter in the best way. There was even a hashtag “The Mako family must be expelled from court.” But if that happens, Japan will be without an heir to the throne, as Mako’s father, Fumihito, 55, is now the official heir to his brother, Emperor Naruhito. Next in line and the only male heir to the imperial line is Mako’s 15-year-old brother, Hisahito. The emperor himself has only one daughter – Aiko.
Thus, there is a discussion about the hereditary empire in Japan. Until now, the throne was inherited only by men. However, if Hisahito in a future marriage can not “give birth” to a male heir, the crown will be vacant. Polls show that most Japanese would take a woman as heir to the throne. That is, 19-year-old Aiko can accept the crown from her father. But such a prospect has met with strong opposition from conservative circles, who are now using tensions around Princess Mako to turn people against women in the imperial family.