Why is Mako’s “Free Love” Rejected? “Difference from the People” Faced with Post-War Imperial Style | Bunharu Online



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Akishinomiya, who celebrated her 55th birthday on November 30, told a meeting that Mako and Kei Komuro “will allow the marriage,” and the ripples are spreading.

Mako Ⓒ JMPA

In response to the announcement of Mako’s feelings on November 13 on “Bunharu Online”, from November 14 to December 1, “What do you think about Mako and Kei Komuro’s marriage?” I took a questionnaire. As a result, following the questionnaire conducted last year with the same question, the majority responded that they should wait.

Results of the questionnaire about the marriage of Mako and Kei Komuro © Haruaki Bungei

Why are people cautious about Mako and Komuro’s marriage? What does this marriage mean for the relationship between the imperial family and the people, which has deepened with postwar democracy? We speak with Toshihide Katayama, who points out the danger of “the imperial family after the reign” in his book “History of the Empire.”

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The key to thinking about the true meaning of Mr. Akishinomiya’s observation that “allowing marriage” is the gap between “the imperial consciousness that values ​​postwar democracy” and “the conservative national consciousness.” think.

The current Emperor and Empress © JMPA, who gestured on the last general visit to Heisei on January 2, 2019

The postwar imperial family has pursued a “national perspective”

Ever since Emperor Showa announced the “Human Declaration” on January 1, 1946, the imperial family has set out to become a “normal human being.” Following the model of the British royal family, we have idealized that we should have a sense of intimacy as the same person who lives with the same values, not as a person who is far from people.

One of the changes is free romance. Starting with the Emperor and Michiko, we have created a sense of value that it is good to marry His Majesty the Emperor and Masako, Akishinomiya and Noriko, and even the royal family to your favorite partner of your choice. I did. And we have created a “postwar nuclear family image” of partners and children.

Akishinomiya and Noriko are also married for love © Bungei Haruaki

Strongly influenced by the Emperor and his wife, who became the starting point of that trend, Mr. Akishinomiya also has the awareness that “living as a human being, not as a special person, will be closer to people. “.

Of course, the “ordinary human being” here overlaps with the image of the Japanese people drawn by the postwar constitution. The Constitution states that no one can interfere with it if there is an agreement between them. Still, if you dare to interfere, you can say that the royal family is not an “ordinary human being”, and the imperial family is an old-fashioned “Japanese house”. So I think I finally came to the conclusion that I would “accept” Mako’s marriage.



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