Princess Mako of Akishino, the niece of the empror of Japan, recently married a non-royal. This is an event that caused uproar in Japan as the person she married, Kei Komuro, is not considered a good match for the princess by some sections of the Japanese public. Japanese society is particularly conservative when it comes to the royal family, therefore even a private affair such as a marriage is a hotly debated subject in the society. Princess Mako’s mother-in-law has been accused of financial fraud, as she owes money to her former boyfriend. Some allege that Mr Kei Komuro’s relationship with the princess was based on ill intent of using taxpayers’ money. Therefore, in light of all these accusations, Kei Komuro has been considered unworthy of marriage to the Emperor’s niece.
Who is Princess Mako?
Princess Mako is the oldest child of Crown Prince Akishino who’s the brother of the current Emperor of Japan. She was born 1991 and is an alumna of the University of Leicester and a research student. As princess, she has visited Latin American countries such as El Salvador, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil along with Bhutan in Asia.
An unjust system of inheritance?
It is important to note that unlike monarchies of other countries where liberalization has happened, the Japanese monarchy still sticks to its old patriarchal rules: for example, a female royal cannot rise to the throne, which is the very reason why despite being the eldest of the children, Princess Mako was ineligible to succeed the Emperor. Moreover, female members of the royal family must surrender their title if they marry an outsider. However, the same rule does not apply to the male members of the family who can retain the title despite marrying outside of royal circles, which is why accusations of sexism have been made. Interestingly, according to polls, the Japanese public generally has a positive attitude about having a female on the throne. Moreover, it wasn’t always like this. In the past, Japan has had female rulers but an amendment in 1889 restricted succession rights to men only. This isn’t something that’s only found in Japan. This was a rule followed by many monarchies throughout the world but has slowly been abolished, mostly as the modern era of liberalization takes charge.
Japan was very close to getting rid of this law because there were no male heirs in the current hierarchy, but that was before the birth of Prince Hisahito, the younger brother of Princess Mako and son of Crown Prince Akishino. The government was debating a change in law to allow women to become heirs, however, in 2006, when Prince Hisahito was born, it meant that the Japanese monarchy now had a male successor and therefore, all plans to amend the patriarchal laws were completely scrapped as if the debates had never happened.
Romance and empowerment, how young royals are changing trends:
The wholesome part of this story was about how Princess Mako of Akshino chose love over status, surrendering her crown and refusing even the financial compensation she was entitled to, thereby breaking the shackles of the imperial system.
We did not see a glitzy royal wedding and it was almost as if the princess wanted to distance her private life from all the limelight and intense scrutiny. People have lauded her move on social media calling her “a real life disney princess” and referring to their marriage as “the victory of love”. The sacrifice she’s making by leaving her crown, her palace, her family and her country for someone she loves is indeed an action that is worth the applause. As for her partner, Mr Komuro said in a media briefing “I want to spend the only life I have with the one I love.”
We have seen similar things happen in the past as well with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, so another way to look at it is how young royals today around the world feel empowered enough to make tough decisions regarding their liberty.
But again, as this is a controversial topic people have different opinions about it; for some it was an empowering move by the princess but others have called it a big mistake by raising doubts about her partner’s history. Another fact worth noticing is the amount of intense media scrutiny the couple had to go through, therefore this private affair was made very public and the princess even had to apologize for her private matter in front of the press. In the same address to the media, she explained how misleading and false reports about her partner have caused the couple mental hardships.
The road ahead:
Princess Mako will be starting a new life together with her husband Kei Kumuro outside Japan, in New York City, a move that could possibly give her a break from all the media frenzy back in Japan and give them a good opportunity to start their life anew.