Prince Fumihito stands firm over postponement of daughter's marriage

”If you mess with us you better be paid”

Money trumps all else....

NEXT!

Oh and dad has a statement for the world but when asked about his daughter he says “I haven’t spoken to her much”

OK??

A 27 year old woman needing daddy's permission about whom to marry. Never change Japan.

Somebody should just crowdfund the 4 million. They'd probably raise it by lunchtime tomorrow.

@ jcapan - it's not as simple as that. would you want people with proven financial irresponsibility part of your Royal household,feeling they're entitled to whatever they want?

In other words, you are just a puppet, we own you.

@ jcapan - it's not as simple as that. would you want people with proven financial irresponsibility part of your Royal household,feeling they're entitled to whatever they want?

Technically, once she marries, she's no longer part of the royal family and would give up all royal status. So no matter what, he wouldn't be part of the 'royal household.'

What the hell, this money issue ONLY Y4,000,000 crazy!

IF this is an issue all the guy has to do is set up a payment plan with mom's ex(would likely agree I bet) or get a loan, pay moms ex & start monthly payments to said bank!

Then tell dad to get STUFFED & mind his own business.

IF I was this guy I would BAIL, marriage is hard enough to pull off without ending up divorced & unable to see kids if you have any, add is this mess that is the royal family.....no way! I would rather live under a blue tarp under a bridge!

I love how often posters are in a hurry to point out other's mistakes. Okay, they wouldn't technically part of the "royal household", but they'd still be part of the family. "Hey, prince, could you spare me a little till payday."

Elope overseas if your in love, the JIHA and you dad can ether get over it or continue to live out their bitter controled lives while you have a happy life. The worst that could happen.

Sheesh, I talk with my daughter a couple times a week - and she's in America!

They don't seem like the best of parents. Kiko has always struck me as conniving.

sensei258Today  08:39 am JST

I love how often posters are in a hurry to point out other's mistakes. Okay, they wouldn't technically part of the "royal household", but they'd still be part of the family. "Hey, prince, could you spare me a little till payday."

Well, that becomes the guy's problem (or wife/daughter's) problem, now isn't, sensei258? I mean all the "prince" has to say, is "Scram!" But as he hasn't talked to the daughter lately (I mean, really, when did he EVER have a heart-to-heart conversation with her, if ever, besides a linguistic token exchange), I don't think it is something for her to worry about. WHY she just doesn't get married and say, screw him, is beyond belief. If my mother had any reservations about the woman I was to marry, it would have been bye-bye Mom.

"If (their marriage) cannot be celebrated by many people, we cannot hold the betrothal ceremony of "Nosai no Gi,"

That’s just sad. Hard not to draw comparisons to the recently married British royals who broke the mould and let a bit of the ole good stuff prevail; love that is.

"I wonder whether it is appropriate to cover the highly religious event with state funds," the prince said.

Just ew.... this is his daughter he is talking about right? Great way to win the hearts and minds of the next generation prince.

Chalk and cheese.

"I wonder whether it is appropriate to cover the highly religious event with state funds," the prince said.

“Just ew.... this is his daughter he is talking about right? Great way to win the hearts and minds of the next generation prince.”

No, actually, that part is not about his daughter or her marriage. The answer is in the article.

Unfortunately this whole saga looks like it will not end well.

Somebody should just crowdfund the 4 million. They'd probably raise it by lunchtime tomorrow.

I'm surprised someone from the Imperial Household didn't just go to the loudmouthed "dirty dishes in public" party in question with a brown envelope full of cash and lots of threats about shutting up or facing a life of constant scrutiny from all forms of authority, the tax people, city hall people, the police, etc.

As to how the princess is faring in the light of developments, Prince Fumihito only said, "I don't know as I have not had much chance to talk her recently."

I'm taking that as a polite way of saying, "what my daughter and I discuss about her love life is between me and her."

I appreciate his thoughts about public funding for religious ceremonies being unconstitutional and find it cheeky of the government to be telling him to keep his opinions to himself; arguing that he has no freedom to express any thoughts, according to the constitution.

Oops! Stand corrected.

Fumihito expressed doubt about the constitutionality of the Daijosai grand thanksgiving rite to be held in November next year, saying he believes the ritual should be financed by day-to-day expenses of the imperial family.

What is the distinction between using state funds or using the budget for the imperial family? Either way the money comes from our taxes. Donations should be solicited from the public to fund these religious ceremonies.

It's not surprising that the prince's comments were ignored by Mr Yamamoto: he was put in place by Abe in order to stop the imperial family doing as they wish. It is surprising that the prince has almost no contact with his daughter and doesn't know how she is. I expect he is too busy at work and only gets the last train home, by which time she is in bed.

"I don't know as I have not had much chance to talk her recently."

He has enough time to hold a press conference, but not talk to his daughter ????

That's one seriously messed up family.

Komuro should not be held responsible for his mother's misdeeds.

If he and Mako are still in love, I wish they would go ahead and get married.

Both would be better off without their families.

Why doesn't Prince Fumihito just arrange a marriage to some billionaire tycoon's son. This way they don't have to worry about money and Commoner Mako(She loses Princess title) can be a stay home wife instead of having to go to work to support her poor husband and mother-in-law.

He has enough time to hold a press conference, but not talk to his daughter ????

That's one seriously messed up family.

Exactly my point Ulysses. The rich are always the same, and as an ex-counselor who had to deal with rich dysfunctional kids in an outdoor treatment centre, the "spawn" that they produce are really, really messed up, so I don't think this daughter is going to be a cake walk for this guy. It will be "I want my standard of living to be always maintained"--I hear Merkle is already raising hell back in Britain, so much so that the staff are already talking to the papers about her conduct.

Fumihito is one to talk about money problems... he’s never earned a yen in his life and lives off of my (our) tax money.

A 4M JPY debt? The imperial family goes through more than that in a week.

A 27 year old woman needing daddy's permission about whom to marry. Never change Japan.

My thoughts exactly; especially at that age. I might understand if she's in her real early 20's, then MAYBE. However, she's an adult who supposedly can make her own choices. Now, if she still needs permission, then maybe she's not worth it. In the end, it really is up to her and no one else's.

According to the former fiance of Komuro's mother, he lent her a total of some 4 million yen for her son's education and to cover his living costs between 2010 and 2012, the period when they were engaged.

4 million yen? Is that all? Even I can pull that money. Something's definitely wrong with that family. There's gotta be more to that story, especially if he's going to a well educated university. Just stuff all and go to either Vegas or Tijuana to get hitched.

Not really interested in royal goings-on, but clicked on this anyway. The article is actually more about using public (=our) money to finance religious stuff, the Prince's expressing his doubts and misgivings about that, and the revelation that as a member of the royal family and future heir to the throne, he has no right of free speech.

Changed my opinion of Hige-san a bit.

My opinion of the IHA remains the same. Holding a whole extended family imprisoned in a gilded cage, with no chance of escape except marriage for the daughters - and even trying to put the kibosh on that.

Let the young folk get wed if they want, they can work to pay off the debt together.

In addition to demanding that the Komuros resolve the matter and issue a public explanation, they have also asked Komuro to present a life plan, including the career he intends to build beyond his current job as a paralegal at the Tokyo law firm, as a condition for his formal engagement and marriage with Princess Mako, the source said.

Any sane man would have run after hearing such bs.

Folks lets not forget when she marries she gets a huge lump sum of sayonara $$$, think it was 100million....someone correct me if I added too many zeros but I recall it IS substantial amount of ca$h!

To avoid all this confusion and royal nonsense is to elope. Elope to a place far away, get married and be happy!!

I think what the families on both sides are forgetting is that marriage is a unit and in that unit the joining of two people in a bond that hopefully lasts until death, but in practice is increasingly cut short by divorce. Now, with that in mind, I'm sure she hopefully has the right mind without influence to make that decision without permission. @goldorak - Yes, even I would have left after hearing this bs, too. However, at the same time, I would have told Mako that I really want to marry her, but that decision has to be made by you. Leave it at that and move on with or without her.

"Elope to a place far away, get married, and be happy... so we can use that huge windfall to pay off some of our debts."

Money money money. I love you but show me the money!

As to how the princess is faring in the light of developments, Fumihito only said, "I don't know as I have not had much chance to talk her recently."

And the caring father of the year award goes to.....

"If his remarks were taken as objecting to (the government's decision on) public funding, they could amount to a violation of the Constitution that prohibits the emperor's involvement in politics," the source said.

This is stupid. The Constitution says the Emperor "shall not have powers related to government" but doesn't say that the Emperor (or his son in this case) can't make comments about things that could be construed as expressing an opinion about a matter that has a political dimension to it.

Its good for the Emperor to refrain from entering sensitive political debates for obvious reasons regardless of whether or not the constitution prohibits it, but this hardly falls into that category, he is literally just talking about who is going to pay for his daughter's wedding.

Or maybe just maybe she realized he was not the right guy for her and asked her father to help her out of a bind so she wouldn't get embarrassed publicly

I understand the intention of the IHA to keep the imperial family reputation squeaky-clean. But jeebus crust, it’s only a he-said-she-said over 4 million yen. Barely a starting annual wage and Not even enough to buy a decent SUV.

Komuro should just buy his two-timing dad a Lexus and clear the issue.

Welcome to the 19th century.

He has enough time to hold a press conference, but not talk to his daughter ????

That's one seriously messed up family

I think this was his way of avoiding answering questions he couldn't answer at the moment. I wouldn't take it literally.

Would it be better if he said he talked to her many times for a long time but she wouldn't listen to me?

The royal family has said that Komuro's family has to come public with the money issues but they refuse to do so. Especially for such a relatively small amount of money the fact that the mother refuses to say anything and is willing to threaten her son's marriage over it makes me wonder if there's more to this than what's being stated...

Trust me folks, when the money is paid up, the prince will think up of another issue to complain about. It is an endless list. It is kind of like a mafia family in a way just without the crime. Much better to ditch the girl and move on with LIFE.

Rainy day, “this hardly falls into that category, he is literally just talking about who is going to pay for his daughter's wedding.”

Actualky, no, he is talking about who should pay for a ceremony that is totally unrelated to his daughter’s wedding.

What's the issue here？

The former fiance LENT money (a large sum）to the mother for the son's education（not his kid）.

Now they broke off and he wants his LENT money back, which he is entitled to.

Essentially, the prince doesn't want his daughter to marry into a family with a large debt. Do you want your kid marrying into a family in debt？

Settle it before marriage. Doesn't sound unreasonable at all.

Actualky, no, he is talking about who should pay for a ceremony that is totally unrelated to his daughter’s wedding.

Ah, true that, I got the two conflated.

Still though, he is basically just saying that he doesn't want taxpayer money spent on a ceremony for a member of his family, so the gist of my argument remains unchanged. Given that the content of the statement actually supports the Constitutional limitation on the Emperor-government relationship I think it is even more so the case.

Confrontation between Japanese Royal family and Abe nationalism Government.

So archaic!

If she want to marry even a junk guy, this is her right. She is 27 years old!

Just get married and get on with it.

Go take care of your finances? And announce it through the media? What a slap in the face. This is over. Move on.

She has to get over the broken relationship, fall in love again, receive a proposal, and have the IHA approve the fiancé and marriage. Minimum 5 years. Old maid in the making.

I love how often posters are in a hurry to point out other's mistakes. Okay, they wouldn't technically part of the "royal household", but they'd still be part of the family.

Nothing technical about it, they would not be a part of the family that simple.

Folks!! Please don't get confused. Two irrelevant issues were mixed together in this article.

I would like to comment on the latter issue,

"Questions gov't financing Shinto rite for new emperor"

This is very important and just shows us that how smart Fumihito is.

Basically he refused too much exaggerated festival for royal, Daijosai, because he sensed politics there.

He felt that the royal family is being used by Prime minister Abe and Right wings by making a ceremony large scale to gather public attention for their own good.

And his message to that is simply NO, consider more about people, not nation.

That's what people are saying on twitter now.

https://twitter.com/onoyasumaro/status/1068163219485642759

@Chico

4 million yen? Is that all?

4 million yen is a lot of money in Japan, where the average monthly salary amounts to 250,000 yen, or 200,000 yen take home pay after tax and social security deductions.

Don't translate 4 million yen into US dollars or Euros and say "I can pay back in 6 months". Things are different in low-wage Japan of 2018.

BeerDeliveryGuy, “Komuro should just buy his two-timing dad a Lexus and clear the issue.”

I have no idea if Komuro’s father was a two-timer but in any case, buying him a Lexus would be rather problematic as he has been dead for many long years.

Fumihito would have a similar status as prince Charles, not similar to monarch. Fumihito does not give assent, he does not cut ribbons, etc. He can say whatever he wants, its the IHA's responsibility to clean up.

those nasty people who are the Imperial Household keepers are the cause of this.

These nasties meddle and interfere in every aspect of The Imperial Family's daily existence.

His wife, Princess Kiko said at the same press conference, "From the end of last year, as the temperature started to fall, there have been more cases where my eldest daughter did not feel well."

It has nothing to do with not marrying the love her life and forcing him to leave her for 3 years.

Yeah, right!

Just get married and get on with it.

If they do get married, Mako will get lots of our tax paying money and her hubby will use that money to pay his debt. No thanks. I know the money is suppose to be a symbol of preserving royalty, but not at my expense.

What is the distinction between using state funds or using the budget for the imperial family? 

I had the same question. Unlike the British monarchy which is independently wealthy, the Japanese imperial household has no assets or income of its own. Everything comes from the taxpayer. The name on the account may be different but its tax money either way.