TOKYO | The former Japanese princess Mako, deprived of her imperial title following her marriage at the end of October with the commoner Kei Komuro, flew Sunday with him for New York, where the couple intends to settle.
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Under good escort, the couple took a commercial flight to New York from Tokyo-Haneda airport, without saying a word to the many journalists who were present for the occasion.
Mako and Kei Komuro, both aged 30, were married at the end of October in Tokyo, without the glitzy 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.
Since the announcement of their engagement in 2017, Mako and Kei Komuro had been the subject of intense media coverage, mostly negative in Japan, due to a financial dispute between the mother of Mr. Komuro and the former fiance of this one.
This quarrel had caused a scandal in the country, where irreproachable behavior is expected from members of the imperial family and their entourage.
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 wedding and Kei Komuro left in 2018 for the United States to continue his law studies.
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 “rumors.” unfounded ”.
Media pressure continued after their marriage, with Japanese media subsequently focusing on the fact that Mr. Komuro failed the New York bar entrance exam.
Earlier this year, he obtained 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 had 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 stay 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.
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