Japan's Princess Mako is going ahead with wedding to commoner Kei Komuro. Not everyone approves

"If he were a singer or artist, it would be fine, but people think he is not 'lawyer-like' nor looking appropriate for a person who will wed a royal woman," she added.

Komuro minimize off his ponytail ahead of Tuesday's wedding. But that wasn't the tip of it.

While most royal weddings are marked by pomp and circumstance, this one can be a muted affair in a registry workplace adopted by a information convention, then Mako's departure from the royal household and a transfer to the United States. Some royal watchers say it is a signal of the instances for minor royals, who're not content material to match bygone guidelines about what they'll do -- and who they'll marry.

Unfit for a princess?

As a toddler, the first-born grandchild of the previous emperor and empress rapidly received over the general public. "Her manners are impeccable. People viewed her as the perfect royal," mentioned Mikiko Taga, a Japanese royal journalist.

Princess Mako had been anticipated to attend the personal Gakushuin University with different members of the rich elite, however she opted to research a bachelor's diploma in artwork and cultural heritage on the International Christian University in Tokyo.

It was there she met Komuro, a person born simply three weeks earlier than her in October 1991, to a household of far more modest means.

Princess Mako's research took her in one other path.

At a crowded information convention, the princess mentioned she had been attracted by Komuro's "bright smiles like the sun" and had realized over time that he was "sincere, strong-minded, a hard worker with a big heart."

Japanese media dubbed him the "Prince of the Sea," after the character he performed in a seashore tourism marketing campaign for town of Fujisawa, south of Tokyo.

All appeared to be going properly, however then got here the primary signal of troubled waters.

The couple had deliberate to marry in 2018, however their wedding was pushed again. The Imperial family mentioned the delay was due to a "lack of preparation," however others suspect it was due to experiences Komuro's mom failed to pay again $36,000 she borrowed from her former fiancé.

"Although, in the United States, we would think mother's business is unrelated to Komuro Kei, an adult man, people in Japan considered this to be problematic and transformed him from a nice, kind, truthful young man to a calculative opportunist who was after prestige and possibly money," mentioned Tonomura, the gender research skilled.

An unconventional union

An opportunity assembly at college is not the traditional path to marriage for a Japanese royal.

Kaori Hayashi, a media research skilled and government vice chairman of the University of Tokyo, mentioned royal companions are often rigorously chosen from inside conventional circles the Imperial household socializes with.

Additionally, in Japan, the notion that single moms are incapable of elevating correct youngsters, nonetheless exists, added Tonomura, the gender research skilled.

"In Japan, there is also an intense misogyny that debases single mothers morally and economically," she mentioned.

"There is a traditional sort of sex-segregated role for men and women that plays out not only in the royal family, but in many institutions here," mentioned Nancy Snow, a professor of public diplomacy on the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies.

Komuro's mom's alleged monetary hassle has contaminated ardent royalists' picture of the royal home, which ideally ought to seem symbolically pure and exist for the non secular well-being of the Japanese individuals, Tonomura mentioned.

That view, as an example, is held by Kei Kobuta, a royal affairs YouTuber, who organized a march in Tokyo attended by about 100 individuals final Saturday. He mentioned many royal watchers like himself contemplate Princess Mako like a sister or daughter who has had made the mistaken alternative.

"There are so many doubts and misgivings about Kei Komuro and his mom, and people fear the image of the royal family will be sullied," mentioned Kobuta.

Pressures of Imperial life

The years of hypothesis and slurs have taken their toll on Princess Mako.

Earlier this month, the palace disclosed that she suffers from advanced post-traumatic stress dysfunction (PTSD).

The princess "feels pessimistic and finds it difficult to feel happy due to the persistent fear of her life being destroyed," Princess Mako's psychiatrist, Tsuyoshi Akiyama, director of NTT Medical Center Tokyo, informed media on the Imperial Household Agency.

The princess is not the primary Japanese girl of the royal household to really feel the strain of Imperial life. Japan's Empress Masako married Emperor Naruhito in 1993, abandoning a high-profile diplomatic profession for all times within the royal family. The transition was troublesome for Masako, who lengthy battled with an sickness medical doctors described as an "adjustment disorder."

"Each case of a female member of the royal family struggling with mental illness has involved different circumstances," mentioned Ken Ruoff, director of the Center for Japanese Studies at Portland State University and writer of "Japan's Imperial House in the Postwar Era, 1945-2019."

"In the case of then Crown Princess Masako, it revolved almost entirely around her being blamed for not producing the requisite male heir," he added.

"Fast forward to the case of Princess Mako, and it revolves entirely around her marriage being subjected to a level of scrutiny that few marriages are subjected to, especially when you consider that she'll be exiting the royal house as soon as she is formally married."

Under Japanese legislation, members of the royal family should hand over their titles and go away the palace in the event that they marry a commoner. As there are solely 18 members of the Imperial household, Princess Mako is not the primary to go away. The final royal to achieve this was her aunt, Sayako, the one daughter of Emperor Akihito, when she married city planner Yoshiki Kuroda in 2005.

As a girl, Princess Mako wasn't in line to the throne -- Japan's male-only succession legislation prevents that from taking place. Her position in royal life was to help her male kinfolk.

As a departing royal, Princess Mako was entitled to a one-off million-dollar cost, however in an effort to appease a disapproving public, she has determined to forgo it.

After the wedding, she'll transfer to New York City the place Komuro works at a legislation agency.

"This is a dramatic exit," Ruoff mentioned. "It's a warning to the Imperial house. I mean, she clearly got fed up."

A quiet life

Princess Mako and Komuro's retreat from the royal highlight is being in contrast to one other well-known couple -- Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.

Markle's engagement to Britain's Prince Harry sparked controversy when it was first introduced in November 2017. Some believed a biracial, divorced American actress had no place throughout the British royal household.

But whereas Princess Mako's "dramatic" exit from the royal household is considerably comparable to "Megxit" -- the time period for the British couple's departure -- Ruoff, the historian, mentioned the similarities finish there.

"British royal family members grow up among great wealth. And they also spend a lot of time directly raising money for very various charitable causes, so know how it works. So when Harry and Meghan went to the US, by telling various stories about the royal family, they managed to make millions and millions of dollars, all the while draping themselves in feel-good, left-wing causes," Ruoff mentioned.

"I would predict there's almost no way that Mako and her future husband are going to behave like that after they get married. In fact, I think what's going to happen is they're just going to disappear."

According to Taga, the royal affairs journalist, the times of asking somebody to fulfill the duties they have been born with are coming to an finish.

"That's why I think it's significant that two different royals from East and West are choosing to live the way they want," she mentioned.

"It marks the beginning of a new era."