Princess Mako announces engagement to her college classmate, a commoner

Japanese royal announces engagement with university classmate

Tokyo: Japanese Emperor Akihito’s oldest grandchild, Princess Mako, said on Sunday she is getting married to a university classmate who won her heart with bright smiles and sincerity.

Mako and fiance Kei Komuro, both 25, said at a news conference that their relationship started when the princess sat behind him at a campus meeting five years ago at Tokyo’s International Christian University, where they graduated.

“First I was attracted by his bright smiles like the sun,” Mako said, smiling shyly. They talked for the first time at the event for students ahead of a studyabroad program, and then started dating.

Over time, she said she learned he is “a sincere, strong-minded, hard worker, and he has a big heart,” Mako said.

The couple had a longdistance relationship while studying overseas — Mako in Britain and Komuro in the U.S. — for one year. Then Komuro proposed to her after dinner in December 2013.

Mako has since introduced him to her parents, Prince Akishino, second in line to the Chrysanthemum throne, and Princess Kiko, as someone she wished to “share her future with.”

Komuro said he was so thankful and happy to have been accepted by her parents, and her grandparents, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.

Komuro, a legal assistant who loves playing jazz piano, pledged to have “a relaxed and peaceful” home together. “Having a family still goes beyond my imagination, but I hope to make one that is warm, comfortable and filled with smiles,” Mako said.

The wedding details of have not been decided, and palace officials say the ceremony is expected sometime around autumn next year after a series of rituals, including one that authorises the engagement. Women aren’t allowed to succeed Japan’s throne. Mako will lose her royal status after marrying Komuro, who is a commoner.

The couple had a long-distance relationship while studying overseas — Mako in Britain and Komuro in the US — for one year

Komuro proposed to the princes after dinner in December 2013

Details of their wedding have not been decided, and palace officials say the ceremony is expected sometime around autumn next year

— AFP Princess Mako, the eldest daughter of Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko, and her fiance Kei Komuro announce their engagement at a press conferenc at the Akasaka East Residence, in Tokyo, on Sunday.