(New York) The former Japanese princess Mako, stripped of her imperial title following her marriage at the end of October to the commoner Kei Komuro, arrived with him in New York on Sunday, where the couple plans to settle.
Images broadcast by Japanese television channels show the couple crossing the New York airport under escort and boarding a vehicle.
They had left Japan without saying a word to the many journalists present for the occasion.
Mako and Kei Komuro, both aged 30, were married at the end of October in Tokyo, without the lavish imperial rites and also waiving state financial compensation normally granted to women leaving the imperial household: a unique case in the history of post-war Japan.
Mako has endured years of criticism over his marriage plan, amid allegations Kei Komuro’s mother borrowed money from a former fiance and failed to pay it back.
This dispute, which is still unresolved, caused a scandal in Japan, where irreproachable behavior is expected from members of the imperial family and their associates.
The Emperor of Japan no longer has any political role since the post-war period, but remains an important symbolic figure of the nation.
Faced with the controversy, the young couple had postponed their nuptials and Kei Komuro left in 2018 for the United States to continue his law studies.
“Fear, sadness and pain”
Mako suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder due to media pressure surrounding his marriage plan, the Imperial Household Agency recently revealed.
After her marriage, Mako told a press conference that she felt “fear, sadness and pain” over allegations in the media about her and Kei Komuro’s family, which she called “unfounded rumors” .
Media pressure continued after their marriage, with Japanese media subsequently focusing on the fact that Mr. Komuro failed the New York bar entrance exam.
He graduated this year with a law degree in the United States and is currently working in a law firm in New York.
Mako meanwhile studied art and cultural heritage at International Christian University in Tokyo, where she met her future husband, and spent a year at the University of Edinburgh. She also holds an MA in Museum Studies from the UK University of Leicester.
In Japan, the imperial throne can only be handed down to men. In addition, the women of the imperial house marrying commoners lose their titles and their descendants are also excluded from the imperial family.
This summer, a group of experts proposed that women of the imperial family could remain with it after marriage.
However, any reform of the system is likely to take a long time to come in the face of the strong reluctance of traditionalists in Japan.