By TATSURO SUGIURA/ Staff Writer
September 11, 2021 at 14:45 JST
Like all mothers, Crown Princess Kiko may not agree on everything with her daughters, but she will not stand in the way of Princess Mako’s long-cherished hope of finally marrying lawyer boyfriend Kei Komuro.
Kiko responded in writing to questions presented to her by the Imperial Household Agency press club ahead of her Sept. 11 birthday when she turned 55.
Regarding the marriage of her elder daughter, Kiko wrote, “By passing on and receiving from (Mako) what I believe they will need from each other, I want to respect as much as possible the feelings of my older daughter.”
Recent reports suggested that Mako and Komuro plan to marry this year, more than three years after a 2018 announcement that the wedding was being postponed. After their marriage, Mako plans to move to New York, where Komuro is now based and plans to work.
“We have continued to hold conservations, so that I can accept the thoughts and feelings of my daughter,” Kiko added. “While there have been matters that I could empathize with, there were also areas where our opinions differed.”
Kiko did not elaborate on how she thought the situation would play out.
Other questions centered on her son, Prince Hisahito, who is second in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne. He will graduate from Tokyo's Ochanomizu University Junior High School next spring.
She made clear she wanted him to feel fulfilled and happy with his choice of which senior high school to attend after a thorough discussion of options.
The senior high school affiliated with Ochanomizu University is only for girls.
Kiko also touched upon the ceremony held in November 2020 proclaiming her husband, Fumihito, as crown prince.
“While supporting him in whatever way I can, I want to perform each and every duty with even more seriousness,” she wrote.
Kiko wrote that most of her official duties and participation in events have been performed online due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, adding that she had heard directly about activities in various sectors or taken part personally in events even during the health scare, in her roles, among other things, as head of the Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association and Imperial Gift Foundation Boshi Aiiku Kai.
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Crown Princess Kiko turns 55 on Sept. 11. (Provided by the Imperial Household Agency)
