Kei Komuro’s Mother’s Former Fiancee Reveals ‘All the Inside Story of the Negotiations with the Komuro Family

I was surprised to hear from a number of media outlets that my agent was inquiring, “Are you going to negotiate directly with Kei Komuro? In the first place, why did Kei suddenly decide to come out? At the moment, all I feel is surprise and discomfort.

So says Mr. A, a former fiancée of Kei Komuro’s (30) mother, Kayo.

On October 1, the Imperial Household Agency officially announced the marriage of Kei Komuro to Princess Mako (29), the eldest daughter of the Akishino family. The two are scheduled to submit their marriage registration on October 26 and hold a press conference on the same day, and they intend to decline the lump-sum payment.

“The Imperial Household Agency also announced that Mako has been diagnosed with ‘complex post-traumatic stress disorder’ (PTSD). Because of Mako’s physical condition and other problems, the Akishino family decided that they couldn’t let the marriage drag on any longer and approved it. However, as the marriage draws nearer, Noriko, 55, is said to be constantly worried about Mako. She is worried about her life in the U.S., saying, “I hope the food there is good for her taste. Mako, however, is doing her official duties and is scheduled to attend the wedding press conference.

On September 30, Naofumi Ueshiba, a lawyer representing the Komuro family, stated in an interview with some media outlets that “direct negotiations between Kei Komuro and his mother’s former fiancee are being coordinated.

Mr. A refuted this statement, saying, “It is being said as if I have agreed to direct negotiations with Kei, but that is not the case. The negotiations are completely blank.

Since April this year, the Komuros and Mr. A have been in talks to negotiate, with Mr. A consistently claiming that Kayo is the one with the financial problems and that he wants to meet her face-to-face.

On July 22, Mr. Kamishiba’s lawyer informed Mr. A’s representative that he would be willing to let Ms. Kayo meet Mr. A only once. In response, we reported in the October 15 issue of this magazine on a letter written by Mr. A to Ms. Kayo in early August, titled “Behind Kei Komuro’s Return to Japan, Former Fiancee’s Letter to the Komuro Family”. However, the Komuro family did not respond to his letter.

“On September 14, Mr. Ueshiba summoned my representative. On September 14, Mr. Ueshiba summoned my representative, who was told by the other side that it would take a period of time on the order of years until Kayo would be able to respond. When my representative asked, “How long will it take? But there was no clear answer. Then they said, ‘As an alternative, how about Kei-san as a negotiation partner?

Mr. A’s representative told the other side, “We want to know why Mr. Komuro is coming out, and what his intentions are. Mr. A’s representative told the other side, “We want to know why Mr. Komuro is coming out, otherwise we can’t make a decision,” but there was no clear answer.

I want to know why Mr. Komuro is coming out,” she said. I don’t think he is the right person to negotiate with, and more importantly, there is no explanation as to why he is negotiating with her.
As for me, I would like to solve this problem as soon as possible. If Kei-kun would explain the situation and we could have an honest discussion, I would be ready to negotiate. However, at the moment, I don’t think that will happen.

Why is Mr. Komuro trying to start “direct negotiations” at this time? Mr. Yuji Odabe, professor emeritus at Shizuoka University of Social Welfare and an expert on the imperial family system, tells us.

He says, “At the wedding press conference, reporters are sure to ask, ‘What happened to the money issue? I think that Kei Komuro’s decision to negotiate directly with her former fiancé is partly to create an alibi so that she can explain at the press conference that she has talked to the other party.

What is required of Ms. Komuro is not a stopgap action, but a sincere explanation.

From the October 22-29, 2021 issue of FRIDAY