Japanese Imperial Family Today

  On February 13, the only son of the Akishino family, Prince Hisahito, who had been attracting a lot of attention for where he would go to school, took the entrance examination for Tsukuba University High School (Tsukufu). At a little after 8:00 a.m., when the clouds were low and heavy and the weather was bitterly cold, he passed through the main gate of Chikuzuke High School like all the other examinees.   The exam starts at 9:00 a.m. Hisahito will take exams in five subjects: Japanese, mathematics, English, science, and social studies.   Recently, the head of household of Crown Prince, the closest aide to the Akishino family, has been complaining about the media coverage of Hisahito's entrance into high school, saying, "How is the attitude of the media to report every week on the entrance into high school of a minor who is about to take an entrance exam, based on speculation?” Today, TBS, one of Japanese commercial TV station, broke the news of Hisahito's entr

    With regard to a stable succession to the throne, attention has been focused on the return to the Imperial Register of the former members of the Imperial Family who were deposed in 1947 after World War II. It is likely that they will have an opportunity to meet each other within the next few years.   At a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives on February 7, the government revealed that the Kikuei Fellowship, which consists of relatives of the Imperial Family, meets about once every five years. The most recent meeting was held on May 18, 2014, at the Higashi Residence in Akasaka Imperial Villa. He answered a question from Fumitake Fujita, Secretary General of the Japan Restoration Association.   The Kikuei Fellowship is a voluntary organization run by members of the IF and the 11 former IF members who left the Imperial Resister in October 1947, and the last time it was held was to celebrate the 80th birthday of the Emperor.   Mr. Fujita also