Wednesday 9 November 2005

Marriage of Princess Sayako of Japan

It�s not every day the Emperor of Japan�s only daughter gets married but when Princess Sayako, 36, marries Tokyo urban planner, Yoshiki Kuroda, 40, on 15th November, Japanese are well aware it will be an Imperial wedding with a difference and one that will undoubtedly hold mixed blessings for the bride. In a Japanese twist, Princess Sayako will emerge from the ceremony a commoner, stripped of her Imperial title, family and the life she has enjoyed for the past 36 years.

The quietly spoken Sayako, known less formally as Princess Nori, has not made a match that displeases the Emperor or the Japanese government but is bound by the post-war Constitution of Japan that stipulates Imperial princesses must relinquish their status upon marriage, as women cannot inherit the Chrysanthemum Throne. There are calls to amend the Constitution to allow princesses to keep their titles but a change is unlikely to occur before Princess Sayako�s marriage.

The Princess and Yoshiki Kuroda first met as children but it wasn�t until they were reintroduced over a year go by the Princess�s brother, Prince Akishino, that a relationship evolved. Mr. Kuroda, an urban planner, lives with his mother in a modest apartment in an affluent Tokyo district and earns a decent, if un-Imperial, salary.

Although a commoner, he comes from a respectable family and has known Prince Akishino for much of his life. Indeed, Prince Akishino and his wife, the popular Princess Kiko, encouraged the romance, organising private social occasions at their palace where Princess Sayako and Yoshiki Kuroda could meet discreetly.

Daunted at first about marrying an Imperial princess, Mr. Kuroda said he considered the matter carefully, knowing the startling transition Sayako faces after the ceremony.

�I think there will be many new experiences [for Princess Sayako] and many occasions when she may feel uncertain, but I will do my utmost to help her in every way I can�.

Conscious Princess Sayako would one day have to leave the cosseted world of the Imperial palace, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko endeavoured to make sure their only daughter was prepared for a life among the general population. The Empress, a commoner before her marriage to the then Crown Prince Akihito, tutored Princess Sayako in running a Japanese household as soon as she was old enough to understand. Perhaps, not surprisingly, Princess Sayako is pragmatic about the change of lifestyle:

�Since childhood I have always been aware that when the day came for me to marry, I would relinquish my Imperial status. I, therefore, don�t feel anything particularly new on this occasion on leaving the Imperial Family, although I have some apprehensions and worries about entering a new life�.

To quell some of these concerns, Princess Sayako, a published ornithologist, is undergoing a comprehensive training programme to make sure she is as prepared as much as possible for life on the outside. She has taken cooking and driving lessons and even ventured out incognito to battle the crowds on Tokyo�s buses and trains.

In her new world, Princess Sayako will no longer enjoy the benefits of Imperial attendants and will be expected to keep house like millions of other Japanese housewives. For the first time in her life, the Princess will have a surname, a telephone, be able to vote in elections and be entitled to pensions and public health benefits. But unlike most other Japanese brides, she will be given almost two million tax-free dollars and a new residence to start her life as a Japanese citizen. A one-off payment, the princess will receive no further financial assistance from the Imperial Household Agency (IHA).

It has yet to be decided where the couple will live after the wedding. Mr. Kuroda currently lives with his mother but it is likely the IHA will move all three to a more secure address after the wedding, probably a luxury high-rise apartment where Princess Sayako will be relatively protected from potential kidnappers.

For the Emperor and Empress, the wedding day will be one of profound sadness. They are said to be happy for their �Miss Never Mind�, the nickname they gave their easy-going, sympathetic daughter in childhood but they are also acutely aware of Imperial protocol and custom which limits contact between the Imperial Family and outsiders. And, according to the latter, Princess Sayako will become an outsider upon her marriage.

Similarly, the Empress saw her parents only a couple of times after her marriage into the Imperial Family and the Emperor�s sister, Princess Sayako�s aunt and the last Imperial princess to marry, experienced the same treatment upon her marriage. When Princess Takako married back in 1960, regular contact between her parents, Emperor Hirohito and the formidable Empress Nagako, ended overnight.

In the case of Princess Sayako, the notoriously conservative IHA has yet to release complete details of whether the Emperor and Empress will attend the wedding reception as well as the wedding. There will, however, be and official parting ceremony in which Princess Sayako will formally bid farewell to her parents, possibly forever.

The sentiment of the parting between daughter and parents is perhaps best summed up by the Empress. In a statement issued on her 71st birthday on 20th October, she wrote candidly about Princess Sayako�s forthcoming wedding:

�How fondly we will remember and miss this tender and heart-warming �Never Mind� in the days to come.�              

- Gioffredo