Tokyo (September 3, 2017): The eldest granddaughter of Japanese Emperor Akihito Princess Mako of Japan will marry a former classmate to get expelled from royal family, Imperial Household said on today.
Princess Mako’s marriage will further deplete the royal family since she must become a commoner after her wedding to a commoner.
Princess Mako is one of only four royal grandchildren. The other three are her younger sister, Kako, her brother, Hisahito, and Crown Prince Naruhito’s daughter, Aiko.
Ten-year-old Hisahito is one of four heirs to the throne behind Akihito’s two middle-aged sons, whose wives are in their early 50s, and Akihito’s octogenarian brother, Masahito. The shrinking royal population has raised concerns that the prince may also be the last.
Princess Mako’s engagement to law office worker Kei Komuro has come after Japanese lawmakers in June approved a bill to allow Akihito to step down, the first abdication by a Japanese monarch since 1817.
Princess Mako and her future husband Komuro graduated from International Christian University. She has a master’s degree from the University of Leicester and has been working as a researcher at a museum. Her fiance once served as a “Prince of the Sea” to promote tourism near Tokyo, according to media reports.
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