Prince Akishino’s mixed feelings about Kei Komuro at the press conference

On November 30th, Prince Akishino celebrated his 56th birthday. The press conference held on this occasion lasted about 60 minutes, and much of the time was devoted to the topic of Mako’s marriage. One week has passed since her birthday, and what do we hear from Prince Akishino about her feelings?

I got the impression that she wanted to keep as much distance as possible from the Komuro family, and that she was not hiding her great distrust of them, as she referred to Kei Komuro as ‘her husband’ and ‘her daughter’s husband. Although they are married, they are strangers to the Komuros, or rather, they don’t want to see Kei’s and Kayo’s faces as much as possible.

Such an allergic reaction to the Komuros is also said to have contributed to the fact that “three events that normally take place at the time of marriage” were not held.

I was struck by the fact that Prince Akishino said, ‘Normally, it would be appropriate to hold these events,’ but ‘I decided not to hold them,’ and then repeated that statement. Even now, even within the Imperial Household Agency, it is pointed out again that ‘zero ceremony was abnormal.

The reasons given by Prince Akishino were that the situation was not “satisfactory and pleasing to many people,” that “the (financial) troubles had not yet been resolved,” and that the so-called “Komuro Documents” released this spring “were not something that everyone could immediately understand and accept after reading them. I have decided that it is not something that everyone can immediately sort out and accept by reading it.

It’s not as if everyone can immediately agree on the situation. The Imperial Household Agency had been searching until the last minute for the possibility of holding the ceremony, hoping for an explanation from Kei. In the midst of all this, the Komuro document was released much later than the desired timing and was met with a public outcry, and Prince Akishino was said to have been deeply disappointed. It seemed to me that he felt that he had no choice but to approve of Mako’s marriage, but that Kei was not an appropriate partner.

In addition, Prince Akishino said that the press conference held by Mr. and Mrs. Komuro after they registered their marriage on October 26 “should have been a two-way street, not a one-way street,” and that “it would have been better if they had an opportunity to talk about it and answer questions about the Komuro Documents. It would have been better if I had the opportunity to talk about it and answer questions.

The fact that he finally paid Kayo’s ex-fiancé a settlement just before he left for New York to settle his financial problems may have given the impression that he had taken it upon himself to get away with it. This is just what the Imperial Household Agency has been calling a ‘runaway marriage. It seems that he really wanted to avoid that kind of behavior.

On the other hand, Prince Akishino said, “If (Mako) is putting her personal life before her public life, then I think it will be impossible for us to get married even if 10 or 20 years pass.

I was curious about this part. Prince Akishino has raised Mako and Kako by telling them that they will get married and leave this house. I can only imagine, but I felt that he wanted to express his belief that they had the right to pursue happiness as private citizens, and that he himself had educated them in this way.

It seems that Prince Akishino and Princess Mako were unable to bridge their differences until the very end. No reconciliation could be reached. And now, anyway, he wants to protect Kako and Eugene.

Prince Akishino’s anguish was deeper than he had imagined.