Princess Mako announces engagement
TOKYO: Japan’s Princess Mako and her fiance — a commoner — announced their engagement yesterday, a match which will cost the princess her royal status according to a law that highlights the male-dominated nature of Japan’s monarchy.
Like all female imperial family members, Princess Mako, who is Emperor Akihito’s eldest granddaughter, forfeits her status upon marriage to a commoner under a controversial tradition. The law does not apply to royal males.
At a televised press conference held to announce her engagement, she told the nation that she felt “really happy”.
“I was aware since my childhood that I’ll leave a royal status once I marry,” she said. “While I worked to help the emperor and fulfill duties as a royal family member as much as I can, I’ve been cherishing my own life.”
Her fiance, Kei Komuro, a 25-year-old who works at a law firm, said he had proposed to her more than three years ago.
An official of the Imperial Household Agency said their wedding will take place after the summer of 2018.
Princess Mako, 25, is the eldest daughter of Prince Akishino, Akihito’s second son.
The news of the engagement has intensified a debate on whether the law should be changed so women born into the imperial family can continue in their royal roles.
That could help increase the number of potential male heirs to a monarchy that does not allow females to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne.
Traditionalists, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, strenuously oppose such changes, even though Japan has occasionally been ruled by female sovereigns in past centuries.
In June, the parliament enacted legislation to allow Emperor Akihito, 83, to step down in favour of Prince Naruhito, his eldest son. His retirement will be the first imperial abdication in more than two centuries.That will put his younger brother Akishino next in line, followed by Hisahito, Akishino’s son.
But after that there are no more eligible males, meaning the centuries-old succession would be broken if Hisahito fails to have a son in the future.