Stripped of her title after marrying a commoner, the former Japanese princess Mako moves to New York with her husband

Steph Deschamps / November 14, 2021

 

Under good escort, the couple took a commercial flight to New York from Tokyo-Haneda airport, without saying a word to the many journalists who were present for the occasion. Mako and Kei Komuro, both 30 years old, were married at the end of October in Tokyo, without the lavish imperial rites and also by renouncing a financial compensation from the state normally granted to women leaving the imperial house: a unique case in the history of post-war Japan.

 

Since the announcement of their engagement in 2017, Mako and Kei Komuro had been the subject of intense, mostly negative media coverage in Japan, due to a financial dispute between Mr. Komuro's mother and her former fiancé. This dispute caused a scandal in the country, where impeccable behavior is expected from members of the imperial family and their entourage. The Emperor of Japan has no political role since the post-war period but remains an important symbolic figure of the nation.