THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
November 13, 2021 at 17:25 JST
Kei Komuro leaves his mother's residence in Yokohama on Oct. 26 to prepare for his marriage to Mako, eldest daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito. (Pool)
Kei Komuro seems to have finally resolved nagging “financial problems” between his mother and her former fiance that nearly derailed his marriage to Mako, the granddaughter of Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko.
Komuro met with the man on Nov. 12 at a Tokyo law firm, according to sources. They said he accepted an undisclosed sum of money from Komuro that was intended to put the debt issue to rest.
The former fiance initially wanted to meet directly with Komuro’s mother, Kayo, to discuss their differences and settle the matter. But that meeting never took place, due mainly to the deteriorating state of her health.
Mako is the eldest daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko.
Komuro, who is based in New York where he is planning to carve out a career as a lawyer, proposed that he act on his mother’s behalf and settle the money issue.
He and his wife, who lost her status as an imperial princess upon her marriage, are planning to fly out of Japan on Nov. 14 to make a new life in New York.
The couple announced their engagement in September 2017, but a bombshell report in weekly magazines about financial problems bedeviling the Komuro family led to an announcement the following February that the marriage was being postponed.
They finally wed on Oct. 26, after a delay of more than three years. Mako asked that all events traditionally associated with the wedding of a female member of the imperial family be waived. She also refused a lump sum payment of more than $1 million to which she was entitled to help her make a fresh start.
As princess, Mako made no secret of her bitter disappointment at the negative public reaction in Japan to her marriage plans after the money matter came to light.
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