The Grand Steward of Imperial Household
Agency, Shin-ichiro Yamamoto, announced on Sunday the engagement of Princess
Mako, a daughter of Prince Fumihito Akishino, to Kei Komuro, a staff of a law
firm in Tokyo. Mako is the eldest grandchild of Emperor Akihito and Akihito
issued an official approval for her marriage. Mako is going to leave the
Imperial House after the marriage, making further concern for the number of
Imperial families getting smaller.
In the press conference, Mako and Komuro
revealed the story about their engagement. They met each other for the first
time in 2012, when they were sitting close in an orientation for studying
abroad. They had close acquaintance thereafter and maintained it during and
after their time abroad, Mako in United Kingdom and Komuro in United States.
Komuro proposed their marriage in December 2013 and Mako accepted it. “Because
I had already decided it, I accepted his proposal immediately,” told Mako in
the press conference.
Mako met the Emperor and Empress with her
parents on Sunday and later she introduced Komuro to her grandparents.
According to Yamamoto, Akihito congratulated the marriage of his granddaughter.
“It is good with fine weather today,” told Akihito. “Their Majesties looked
very impressed on the engagement of their first grandchild, whom they had
closely been watching,” said Yamamoto.
Mako has been recognizing that her marriage
would mean leaving her house, while helping official roles of Imperial House.
She thanked her parents of their respect advice for her life. “I would be happy
if we could make a family which would be warm, comfortable and full of smile
with Mr. Komuro,” told Mako. Their wedding is supposed to be later than next
summer, after the official betrothal ceremony.
Imperial House Law determines that female
family of Imperial House leaves the House, when she is married with a person
out of the House. There are seven female families, who had not been married
yet, out of all nineteen Imperial family members.
When Akihito announced his hope for
abdication last summer, the issue of expanding Imperial family rose up to
political agenda. While Democratic Party argued revising Imperial House Law to
allow female family staying in the House after her marriage, Liberal Democratic
Party opposed it, taking care of conservative concern on having female Emperor
in the future. While the Speakers of both Houses requested Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe to consider establishment of female Imperial House, Abe
administration has shown no positive effort to conclude the issue.
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