Japanese Imperial Family Today

    It is reported that the Imperial Household Agency Secretary Nishimura was surprised by the story in the weekly Bunshun (April 29 issue) posted online on April 21st.   https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/b1c14146c3598a1c8fdd4ddc3ea84eed81e06cc4   According to the article, Kei Komuro's mother, Kayo, planned to continue to receive the survivor's pension of her ex-husband who had committed suicide by hiding that fact that she is under common-law marriage and make a living together with the ex-fiance, then be enrolled after he was eligible for the pension. Qualification for the survivor's pension disappears not only in the case of remarriage, but also in the case of common-law marriage.   Although this was previously reported in Shukan Gendai, Bunshun's article focused on alleged survivor pension fraud using images of emails allegedly sent by Kayo to his ex-fiancé. Officials in the IHA are reported to be also showing serious interest.   Mr. Nishimura

(Supplemented on June 2 and 8)   Japanese government set up  the advisory panel on securing a stable line of imperial succession  and appointed its members early this year. It was proposed in 2017 to study the problem of imperial succession quickly after the enthronement of the present emperor, so PM Suga did his homework. The cabinet's web page on the advisory panel is here The panel’s first meeting was held on March 24th, as described in this article by The Mainichi Shimbun: “Japan gov't panel kicks off discussion on imperial succession: The Mainichi Shimbun” https://mainichi.jp/english/articles...0m/0na/024000c Quote: The Japanese government's advisory panel on securing a stable line of imperial succession held its first meeting on Tuesday, with discussions over the coming months set to focus on whether the country should break with tradition and allow female members of the emperor's family to ascend the throne. The six-member panel wil

  Hello everyone. The issue of succession to the throne is currently being discussed at a government advisory panel this year. It is worth noting that this may result in a historic change for the Japanese imperial family. But first of all, I personally hope the birth of  Aiko Tennoh(i.e.Emperor Aiko)  who is the only daughter of the present Emperor Naruhito, as the first female emperor in more than two centuries, so please allow that information provided by me would be somehow biased… First, it should be emphasized that  polls show the Japanese public overwhelmingly supports the idea of a female emperor. “81% back idea of Japan having female emperor: Kyodo News poll” published on Oct 28,2019 https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2...eror-poll.html   Quote: A whopping 81.9 percent of respondents to a Kyodo News survey over the weekend said they are in favor of the idea of Japan having a female emperor, while 13.5 percent indicated they are opposed. Concerns

Thank you for visiting my blog.  The Largest Scandal of Japanese IF The engagement between Princess Mako of Akishino and Kei Komuro is still pending for now.  The future of their marriage is not seen at all.  It is said that this is the largest scandal in the history of the Japanese imperial family. Many foreign friends ask me "Why should their marriage be delayed?" For readers’ convenience, let me summarize the situation from the beginning. It contains some speculations, but it is commonly believed in Japan. Time Line of Mako&Komuro Problem First, their informal engagement was announced in Sep. 2017. (Notice: they are still ‘informal fiancés’ so far, not official ones.) The informal engagement was permitted by Emperor of the time Akihito, current Emperor Emeritus. Few months later, in the end of 2017, Komuro’s debt problem was reported. (See  here  for the summary of his debt problem.) and IHA postponed the procedure of official engagement in Feb.2018. As yo