Third time’s the charm…Why Kei Komuro’s “Passing the test is not enough to make everything OK

Since mid-October, the Imperial Household Agency has been in a state of panic. Although it has nothing to do with the Imperial Household, it is obvious that the Akishino family will once again attract public attention in a “bad” way…” (Imperial Household Agency official) (The “Mere Old Man”)

On October 20, Michiko celebrated her 88th birthday. Currently, she is spending her time peacefully with her Highness at the Sento Palace in the Akasaka Imperial Palace in Tokyo, which she returned to in April of this year for the first time in 30 years.

He leads a regular life, never missing his morning and evening walks around the grounds and reading aloud after breakfast. This year, for the first time in four years, he held a celebration event that had been canceled due to the new Corona. His Majesty the Emperor, Crown Princess Masako, and others visited the Sento Palace to congratulate Michiko.

While celebrating the milestone of her 77th birthday, Michiko must be filled with mixed feelings about her “first grandchild.

When a special exhibition was held to commemorate Michiko’s 77th birthday, a letter that Michiko had written to Mako, who was in the third grade of elementary school, was also displayed and became a topic of conversation. Furthermore, when Michiko went to the provinces on official business, she trusted Mako so much that she asked her to help her with the “sericultural” work that had been passed down to successive empresses.

This year, however, Mako is living in the U.S. as a newlywed and will not be able to attend the celebrations in person, and Michiko must be feeling lonely.

Despite her “grandmother’s” wishes, three days after Michiko’s birthday, Mako celebrated her 31st birthday. Three days later, on October 26, would be the anniversary of her marriage to Kei Komuro.

The Komuro couple, who held a press conference on the day of their marriage, were scheduled to hold a question-and-answer session with reporters, but they hastily canceled it because they were ‘strongly shocked by the questions they received beforehand, which included questions that could have given the impression that false information was true. The public was critical, saying, ‘This is not a press conference.

One year has passed since then. Since the marriage issue has been going on for about four years, the media will probably cover the wedding anniversary this year.

The unprecedented marriage, in which the couple did not hold a “nosai-no-gi,” a ceremony commonly referred to as a betrothal gift, and declined to receive a lump-sum payment said to be around 150 million yen, has been called a “modern-day Romeo and Juliet. Since it is the wedding anniversary of the Komuro couple, the media will have no choice but to cover the events of a year ago again,” said a reporter in charge of the Imperial Household.

Furthermore, on October 21, it was reported that Mr. Komuro had passed the New York State bar exam. This is the third time for him to take the exam, and it was his “third time’s the charm.

However, even though she passed the exam, it is highly likely that public criticism of the Imperial Household Agency and Prince and Princess Akishino will become stronger again.

The couple’s success does not mean that everything will be OK,” said Mr. Kikuchi. There are still deep-rooted suspicions, such as ‘Why are the couple able to live in New York State, where the cost of living is the highest in the world? The fact that they did not attend Michiko’s U.S. birthday is also not a good impression from the public.

There will no doubt be a lot of news on TV celebrating her passing and looking back on her wedding press conference of a year ago to coincide with their wedding anniversary. This will no doubt cause many people to remember the various “discomforts” and “suspicions” about them, such as the forced marriage of Mako and her husband.

A year has passed since the Komuro couple left for the U.S., but the Akishino family’s difficulties are likely to continue…