“More Gold!" $26 million renovation of Prince Akishino's residence delayed significantly due to additional requests from Prince and Princess Akishino
Three years have passed since the current
HM the Emperor’s accession to the throne in 2019. As part of the Imperial
Family's move following the accession, the Emperor and his family moved to the
Imperial Palace in September last year, and late last month, the Emperor Emeritus
and his wife began living at the Sento Palace in Akasaka Imperial Palace, where
he spent his days as Crown Prince.
Meanwhile, the residence of Prince
Akishino's family, the younger brother of the Emperor and heir to the throne,
is still under renovation, and it has been announced that the renovation will
be completed in the fall. The total cost of the renovation of Akishino's
residence is approximately 3.3 billion yen (about 26 million USD), and the
current temporary residence of the Akishino family until its completion was
newly built at a cost of 980 million yen (about 7.7 million USD), so the total
construction cost for the family's new life will be about 4.3 billion yen
(about 34 million USD). Incidentally, the renovation of the Imperial Palace,
the residence of the Emperor and his family, cost approximately 870 million yen
(about 6.8 million USD).
The delay in the construction period of the
Akishino residence was caused by additional requests from Prince and Princess
Akishino, reported "Josei Jishin" on May 18.
According to the article, the Imperial
Household Agency, the relevant government agency, cited the following reasons
for the delay in the repair work: 1) construction was suspended for about two
months due to the new Corona, and 2) the number of workers was reduced to avoid
overcrowding.
However, according to one Imperial
Household Agency official, there was "another reason.”
“According to a person involved in the
renovation work, there was a constant stream of additional requests from Prince
and Princess Akishino, especially from Princess Kiko.
The officials said that each time they
received a request, they had to make changes to the work, but 'it is not
possible to finish the work by March,' they said.”
Among the couple's request, he said, some had
a good reason: "We don't want to destroy the ecosystem.” But it is by no means the only one.
“The couple visited the site repeatedly to
check on the progress of the work. Among the additional requests, the one that
particularly surprised those involved in the renovation work was, ‘We need
to use more gold.’ The longer construction period and more work would
increase labor costs. In addition, the workers were concerned that they would
exceed not only the construction period but also the budget because they would
have to order new materials," said the Imperial Household Agency official.
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