Japan's Princess Mako turns 30 today and this is the last time she will celebrate her birthday as an imperial princess and member of the Japanese royal family. She is set to marry her college sweetheart, Kei Kumoro, later this month and will move to New York City with him after the wedding. Kumoro works as a lawyer in New York.
Following the wedding, Princess Mako will reduce to a status of a commoner, stripped of her royal title, and will be removed as a member of the imperial family. Rules of the Imperial Household of Japan state that an imperial princess marrying a commoner will lose her royal status and must leave the imperial family.Â
It's somewhat very unrealistic since Japan had abolished the aristocracy in the country after World War II and other than the members of the imperial family, everybody there is considered a commoner.
Not unless the imperial children will look for a bride or groom in foreign aristocracy, there's no way they could find an aristocrat on Japanese soil to marry. The last imperial princess who lost her royal status for marrying a commoner was Mako's paternal aunt, now known as Sayako Kuroda.
Daughter of a future Japanese emperor
Princess Mako is the eldest child of Crown Prince Fumihito, the younger brother of Emperor Naruhito whose only daughter, Princess Aiko, has been disinherited because the Imperial Household Law of the Chrysanthemum throne follows the Agnatic Primogeniture which recognizes only male heirs.Â
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| From left: Princess Mako, Prince Hisahito, Crown Prince Fumihito, Crown Princess Kiko, and Princess Kako |
Princess Mako's father, Fumihito, and her younger brother, Prince Hisahito, are the only heirs of the reigning emperor. She has a younger sister, Princess Kako.
Marriage controversy
On October 26, 2021, Princess Mako will wed her college sweetheart, Kei Komuro. They both attended International Christian University in Japan. A commoner, Komuro was raised alone by his single mother.
In May 2017, they announced their engagement and expected to be married in November 2018. However, Komuro and his mother were embroiled in a financial dispute with his mother's former fiance.
The man insisted that Kei Komuro's mother should pay him back the expenses he spent during their engagement ceremony and in the course of their relationship. However, it was alleged that the money was spent on Kei Komuro's tuition fees.
Following the controversy, the imperial family and the public expressed disapproval of the marriage and Princess Mako's father urged Komuro to issue a public statement.
The intense media scrutiny made Princess Mako suffer from Post-traumatic stress disorder. It was later announced the marriage will proceed on October 26, 2021, in a simple ceremony without the pomp and pageantry of royalty.
Princess Mako refused to accept the financial settlement offered by the Japanese government as a one-time payment for giving up her imperial status and leaving the imperial family.
After the marriage, she will move to New York City where Kei Komuro worked as a lawyer in the New York-based law firm, Lowenstein Sandler LLP.
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