The Untold Story of Kei Komuro and Princess Mako’s Press Conference on October 26

On October 1, the Imperial Household Agency officially announced that Princess Mako (29) and Mr. Kei Komuro (29) will marry on October 26. In an unusual move, no engagement ceremony will be held, and the 140 million yen lump-sum wedding allowance that will be paid to the couple when they leave the Imperial Household will not be provided.

“Even within the Imperial Household Agency, there are a variety of opinions about this marriage, and of course there are many disappointed voices. One of the reasons cited is that, despite the public’s opposition, there will no longer be any ceremonies or events related to the sending off of Princess Mako, including the Nousai Ceremony, which is equivalent to an engagement, and the wedding ceremony.

Up until now, the Imperial Household Agency has been trying to realize the “situation that many people will accept and be happy with,” as desired by Prince Akishino and His Majesty the Emperor.

“It is true that until April of this year, the Imperial Household Agency had been working to make the marriage official, even if it was only a ‘nosai-no-gi’ ceremony. But that, too, was eventually not consummated.” (Ibid.)

What happened in April was the existence of the 28-page “Komuro Document.

In April of this year, the 28-page “Komuro Document” was released. “Yasuhiko Nishimura, Director General of the Imperial Household Agency, met with the lawyer of Ms. Komuro’s mother, Kayo, and her former fiancé, who was having financial problems, and took a very positive approach to resolving the problems. I believe that Mr. Nishimura himself had many expectations for the explanatory document from Mr. Komuro. When the document was released, the content itself was polite and the director general appreciated it, but unfortunately, it was not seen that way by the public.

Of course, after that, the Imperial Household Agency envisioned every possible means to gain the “understanding of the people. But the heart of the matter is Mako’s feelings. ……

“As announced on October 1, Mako has been diagnosed with ‘complex PTSD’ and her mental state has reached its limit. The members of the Akishino family, with the exception of Princess Eugene, have bundles of photocopies of various domestic and foreign articles on their desks. All of you They have tried to listen to the voice of the people by reading reports and evaluations related to the Imperial Family on their tablets while traveling. However, with Mr. Komuro not by her side, Mako could not stand the fact that there were so many negative evaluations of the marriage.

This was the moment when the Imperial Household Agency gave up on “public understanding” and decided to proceed with the “private marriage” of Mako and Komuro.

“Even so, the Imperial Household Agency showed pride, or rather insistence, in holding a press conference on October 26. It is not without reason that they would refuse to hold a press conference if they wanted to proceed with the private marriage. In fact, Princess Mako and Mr. Komuro were not that proactive.

Nevertheless, at the press conference held on the day of her birth in 2020, Prince Akishino said, “I think it’s important that when the time comes for us to actually get married, of course, we’ll talk properly about the past and all that. The Imperial Household Agency took this statement very seriously.

“The Imperial Household Agency took this statement seriously, and continued to persuade the couple that a press conference together was essential to prevent their marriage from turning into an elopement, as is often said. Even if they leave for New York after this, they are expected to return to Japan at various times in the future, such as when she becomes pregnant or Kako gets married. No matter what form it takes, if you hold a press conference and talk about it once, you will be able to explain the reasoning behind criticisms such as, “Why would someone who runs away or elopes come back? We believe that this will give us some logic to explain away criticisms such as ‘Why would someone who runs away or elopes come back?

There are only about 20 days left until the press conference on the 26th, which the Imperial Household Agency, concerned about Mako’s future, has insisted on until the very end.