Tokyo, 27 October, /AJMEDIA/
The controversial marriage of Japan’s Princess Mako and her university sweetheart Kei Komuro highlights the struggle that members of the royal family have in balancing their public and private lives, in what some pundits have called a “warning sign” for maintaining a monarchy in a modern democracy.
The 30-year-old niece of Emperor Naruhito went ahead with the marriage in an unprecedented manner by skipping the usual traditional rites and turning down a lump-sum payment of up to about 150 million yen ($1.3 million) in taxpayers’ money, amid public unease over media reports on a financial dispute involving Komuro’s mother.
The Komuro family has become fodder for Japanese tabloid magazines and TV talk shows, leaving many people unconvinced that the Komuros are fit to become relatives of the imperial family, including Princess Mako’s younger brother Prince Hisahito, 15, who is seen as a future emperor.
The princess abandoned her royal status and became Mako Komuro under a family registry with her university sweetheart as the Imperial Household Agency submitted legal paperwork to register the couple’s marriage on their behalf on Tuesday.
Kenneth Ruoff, a professor of modern Japanese history at Portland State University, said, “Princess Mako’s marriage is a warning sign,” indicating that Japan’s imperial system could face a crisis in the future.
Despite a dwindling number of imperial family members, Princess Mako’s marriage pointed to the fact that other royal family members — including male heirs to the throne — could pursue a life based on their personal choice and leave the household in the future, according to Ruoff.
