Princess Kiko’s Birthday Documents Reveal Her Overly Complicated Feelings Toward Mako

On September 11, Princess Noriko of Akishino celebrated her 55th birthday. On the occasion of her birthday, she responded to questions from the Imperial Press Association in writing.

“There were three questions, and the third was about the marriage between Mako and Kei Komuro. The third question was about the marriage of Mako and Kei Komuro. This was the same format as last year, but this year, in September, news came out that the two were going to get married before the end of the year and that they were going to join the family and go to the U.S. in October, so I’m sure many people were paying attention.

(National newspaper reporter in charge of the Imperial Family) The following are the answers to the question of how they perceive the series of events, including the “Komuro Documents”.

Regarding the marriage of our eldest daughter, as a parent, I have been holding a series of dialogues with her so that I can accept her thoughts and ideas. In this context, there are some things we can sympathize with and some things we disagree with, but we communicate what we think is necessary to each other and try to respect the feelings of our eldest daughter as much as possible. I will refrain from telling you how I feel about the series of responses, what I see for the future, or what we talked about (between parents and children).

“The content was almost the same as last year. The content was almost the same as last year, which is why many of you may have felt that the text was rather plain. Some people within the Imperial Household Agency have pointed out that Noriko is still strongly opposed to the marriage because she does not have a good relationship with Komuro’s mother, Kayo. This is not to say that there are no such things, but it is only a small part of the story,” said an official of the Imperial Household Agency.

It is said that the answers are mainly prepared by Noriko, and then the Imperial Household Agency takes care of them.

“As a mother, she naturally wants her daughter to be happy and to get married, but I felt that she was expressing her concern about the ‘lack of an environment where the people can give their blessing,’ which Prince Akishino and others have mentioned from time to time. I think she is aware of the criticism from the public, such as ‘Mako is putting too much emphasis on her personal side in her public life.

The Imperial Household Agency is said to have been more nervous than ever about Noriko’s answer this time.

“The Imperial Household Agency was forced to be more nervous than ever about Noriko’s response. In the meantime, on September 1, the news of their ‘marriage’ was reported. Naturally, it was expected that Noriko would make a specific mention of this in her answer, but it was quite difficult to coordinate, and as a result, she decided against it.

What does that mean?

(A person who knows the situation of the Akishino family.) What does that mean? “It means that nothing has been finalized, such as what the ceremony will be like, when the royal family will leave the throne, what preparations are being made for going to New York, what life will be like there, and what the SP will be like at ……. Needless to say, if anything happens there, it will be a big deal, so the National Police Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be the main coordinators. If she is to join the family and go to the U.S. within this year, they want to start preparations as soon as possible, but not a few of the people involved are complaining that they are not making much progress.

In such a situation, it is impossible for the Imperial Household Agency to make a formal announcement about the marriage, let alone include it in Noriko’s answer. In fact, the fact that this has not happened is probably the best proof of this.

” Noriko probably feels that it would be inappropriate to rush into a marriage when the public’s opinion of Mako’s documents released last October and the ‘Komuro Documents’ released in April of this year is not good, and when few arrangements have been made. I have the impression that she has indicated this in the document issued on the occasion of her birthday.

I wonder if the day will ever come when a mother can truly congratulate her daughter on her marriage.