For the past 15 years, Crown Princess Masako has been battling a stress-related illness and often shied away from public engagements
Crown Princess Masako, wearing a stunning pale yellow kimono decorated with leaves of russet and gold, turned heads at Emperor Akihito’s autumn party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in central Tokyo on November 9.
A major event on the calendar of the imperial family, this year’s party was more significant than most as it marked the last time the emperor and Empress Michiko will attend, given his upcoming abdication from the Chrysanthemum Throne on April 30 next year.
The occasion was especially significant because Crown Princess Masako – who will become empress in just four months – stayed until the very end. For the last 15 years, she has been battling a stress-related illness and was either unable to attend or chose to slip away before the reception concluded.
Ten days after the party, the prince and princess went to a ceremony in the western Tokyo suburb of Chofu where they met local children involved in a tree-planting campaign. The princess spoke with a number of the children and thanked them for their work to protect the environment.
Two public engagements in such a short time suggest the princess is determined to overcome the issues that have plagued her as she prepares to take on the duties and responsibilities of an empress.
While the question remains largely unspoken in Japanese society – which has great respect for its monarchy and a good deal of sympathy for the struggles a fellow commoner has experienced after marrying into the imperial family – there are inevitably concerns over how the princess will cope once she is elevated to empress.
“From the outside, it looks very much as if the princess and the Imperial Household Agency are carefully managing her public appearances as we get closer to the abdication of the emperor and it is likely that her schedule is being arranged according to her health on any given day,” said Makoto Watanabe, an associate professor of media and communications at Hokkaido Bunkyo University.
