Japan’s Princess Mako marries commoner boyfriend, loses royal status
TOKYO: Japan will maintain tradition in the imperial household even if it means the end of the monarchy.
After a four-year engagement, Princess Mako, the niece of 61-year-old Emperor Naruhito, has married her long-time boyfriend, Kei Komuro. And because Japan’s imperial law strips women of their royal status after marriage, the princess will exit the family, leaving behind 12 women and five men.
In addition, following controversy over their engagement, Mako turned down a 152.5 million yen ($1.3mn) dowry that’s traditionally been awarded to women in the royal family who’ve married, making her the first to do so since World War II.
“It’s a radical departure from what is expected from women of the imperial family,” said Shihoko Goto, deputy director for Geoeconomics at the Wilson Center, a Washington-based think tank, and an Asian affairs specialist. “She is prepared to make financial sacrifices and uproot herself from the comfort, safety, and privileges of her life to pursue her own path.”
There were 67 members of Japan’s royal family after World War II. As of Tuesday, there will be just 17, and only three heirs to the throne among them: The emperor’s 85-year-old uncle, Prince Masahito; his brother, Crown Prince Fumihito, age 55; and his nephew and Princess Mako’s brother Hisahito, age 15.
Japan is among a handful of modern monarchies that limits succession to men - Saudi Arabia, Oman and Morocco among them.
Princess Mako’s wedding has spotlighted previous calls to allow women to be part of the line of succession, as a way to shore up the world’s oldest, continuous, hereditary monarchy, and to bring it in line with more modern ideas about gender equality.
It’s an overwhelmingly popular idea, according to a Kyodo News poll taken in March and April. Of respondents, 85% said they were in favour of a female emperor, and almost as many 79% - said they’d support letting the empress pass the throne on to her own children.
Ironically, the imperial family can’t do anything about it. The role of the monarchy, including its line of succession, is governed by Japanese law.