By AKIKO TADA/ Staff Writer
January 3, 2023 at 16:24 JST
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako are surrounded by other members of the imperial family in 2019. (Provided by Imperial Household Agency)
The Imperial Household Agency will establish a public affairs office in April to handle online information about the imperial family in a way that will prevent defamatory comments in social and other media.
About 10 individuals will be assigned to the office that will mainly deal with posting information on the agency’s website about the activities of imperial family members.
Currently, the agency’s website only lists the schedule of events in which imperial family members will take part.
The revamped website will provide more detailed accounts of their activities, including the posting of photos and videos in a timely manner after an event, according to high-ranking agency members.
The work on the new website will be the first step toward providing more information to help make imperial family members more familiar to the general public.
Agency officials are moving toward a more aggressive public affairs engagement in light of defamatory posts and magazine reports that emerged regarding the marriage of Mako, the elder daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko, to Kei Komuro.
When the Imperial Household Agency formally announced the marriage in October 2021, it also reported that Mako had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder due to the abusive comments about her relationship with Komuro.
At a news conference the same year for his 56th birthday, Fumihito himself criticized reports that he said were based on false information.
That led agency officials to consider ways to prevent such defamatory reports.
The hope is that transmitting more accurate information about imperial family members will lead to a decrease in baseless reports or postings.
While members of royal families abroad have their own social media accounts, agency officials said there was a greater hurdle in Japan in allowing imperial family members to take such a step.
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