Japanese princess to become a commoner

Princess Mako, granddaughter of Emperor Akihito, announced today that she will marry a non-royal fiancée, meaning she will soon become a commoner.

Princess Mako, the eldest granddaughter of Emperor Akihito. Photo: Abcnews

On September 3, NHK broadcast an announcement from Japan's Imperial Household Agency that Princess Mako will marry her classmate Kei Komuro, a commoner. The agency also confirmed that after the wedding, scheduled to take place next year, Princess Mako will lose her royal status.

Mako is one of four grandchildren of Emperor Akihito. She has two half-sisters, Princess Kako and Prince Hisahito, and a cousin, Crown Prince Naruhito's daughter, Princess Aiko.

Kei Komuro works for a law firm in Tokyo while attending Hitotsubashi University. He was a classmate of Princess Mako when they both attended International Christian University in Tokyo.

They met five years ago through a mutual friend and began dating. A year ago, Komuro proposed to Princess Mako, a source familiar with the matter said. It will be the first wedding for one of Emperor Akihito's four grandchildren.

The decline in the number of royal family members partly reflects the aging of Japanese society, raising concerns about the next generation of royal descendants. Currently, 10-year-old Prince Hisahito is one of four heirs, behind Emperor Akihito's two sons and Prince Masahito, the Emperor's younger brother.

The engagement was announced shortly after Japan's parliament passed a bill allowing Emperor Akihito to abdicate, marking the first time a Japanese monarch has given up the throne since 1817. A year ago, Emperor Akihito said he feared his age would make it impossible for him to fulfill his duties as emperor. The 83-year-old has undergone heart surgery and is being treated for prostate cancer.

However, the law only applies to Emperor Akihito, not his successor, and does not address controversial issues such as only men being allowed to inherit the throne or women having to leave the imperial family when they marry. Conservatives fear this will be the first step towards women being able to ascend the throne later.

According to Dan Tri