As they begin their marriage in New York City, Mako Princess and Komurikei (her new husband) were seen leaving Tokyo Sunday.
Mako, the 30-year-old eldest child of Crown Prince Fumihito’s niece and reigning Emperor Naruhito’s nephew, married Kei Komuro in Tokyo, her university sweetheart. The union was made after an 8-year-long engagement, even though many of their relatives in the home country did not support it.
The couple were seen leaving Tokyo with an entourage of photographers and spectators. They are now heading for New York.
They have lived together in an apartment for the past few months before moving to New York. Komuro works at Lowenstein Sandler LLP, a New Jersey law firm.
The Big Apple: Prince Mako and Kei Komuro are headed to the USA. They were seen leaving Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport on Sunday.
Media and crowds gathered at the terminal to see the couple as they made their way through. They were being escorted to New York by an entourage.
With their luggage dragging them behind, the couple have come under fire in their homeland. They will now live in New York in support of Komuro’s legal career at Lowenstein Sandler LLP, New Jersey.
Princess Mako, 30, pictured ahead of leaving Tokyo on Sunday; her relationship with Komuro has dominated newspaper headlines in the country after it was discovered that his mother had not repaid a 4million yen ($35,000) loan from a former fiancé, partly to pay her son’s law studies tuition
Mako declined the offer of 140million yen (£890,000) payment to which she was entitled for leaving the imperial family, palace officials said, and is expected to find a job in New York.
Mako and Komuro, who wore white facesmasks and carried their suitcases with them, were joined by large entourages as the global media assembled to photograph the pair at the airport.
The former Princess wore a simple navy dress for the flight from London to New York, while her husband was dressed in a cozy knitted green cardigan with navy corduroy pants.
Earlier this month, it was revealed Komuro had failed the New York State Bar Association exam, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK.
Komuro passed the test earlier in the summer. The exam results were uploaded to the New York State Board of Law Examiners’ website on Friday. His name wasn’t among those who were successful.
Komuro Ha stated that he intends to keep studying and will be retaking the exams in February.
Mako also spoke She will support her husband in his studies.
A poll shows that as high as 80 percent of Japanese are against the Japanese marrying without the pomp and ceremony of traditional Tokyo register offices.
As the couple made their way through airport security for the 12 and a half hour flight to New York, a large entourage was with them
Following the Komuro financial scandal, approximately 91 per cent Japanese said they won’t support the marriage of the couple.
Japanese media met at the airport to welcome Princess Diana and her husband on the flight which would take them to America.
The ex-princess pleaded with the Japanese people to back her decision to wed her eight-year-old partner.
Mako, Crown Prince Fumihito’s oldest daughter and the niece of Emperor Naruhito’s reigning Empress, was photographed in October as she married her university sweetheart Komuro.
Kayo, Komuro’s widowed mother raised him. He was only in his first grade class when his father died. He worked in Japan in both a French-language restaurant and in a bank.
Mako was studying with him at the International Christian University in Tokyo when he met Mako.
The Japanese newspaper front pages were captivated by his proposal. Prior to that, he had been named Prince of Seas to manage a tourist campaign in Fujisawa.
Both of them, now 30 years old, were ‘unofficially engaged in 2017’ and had planned to get married in November 2018.
Initially the news was greeted with delight in Japan, but then a scandal grew up when it was discovered that Kayo had not repaid a 4million yen ($35,000) loan from a former fiancé, partly to pay her son’s tuition.
Kayo, Komuro’s widowed mother raised him. When he was still in elementary, his father had died. Pictured above nine years old with his father
Komuro may have been marrying the princess to make money and fame, as critics suggested.
Komuro provided a 24 page explanation of the money, claiming that it was not a loan but a gift. This made Komuro even less popular.
He eventually said that he would repay the money, but it’s not clear if it has.
An online survey in Japan found that only five percent of Japanese respondents would wish to congratulate or celebrate the couple. A staggering 91 percent said otherwise.
Yet, despite all of the trouble Mako and Kei went through their love has endured. The ex-princess pleaded for support from the Japanese people last year.
“We are irreplaceable together – someone you can rely upon during both happy or sad times,” she stated, annoucing the wedding.
“So marriage is an important choice to allow us to preserve and cherish our emotions while living.
Her words on Tuesday were almost identical. She said, “Kei is irreplaceable to me.” She said, “Marriage was the right choice for us.”
Komuro, who hasn’t lived in Japan in the past three years, only returned to Japan last September in preparation for his wedding. His return to Japan was marred by his unattractive hairstyle, which he wore at Narita Airport.
Prepared remarks included the following: “I accept that there are different opinions regarding our marriage. It was a terrible mistake.
“I appreciate the support and concern shown to us by those around me, as well as all of you who helped us through this difficult time.
She stated that incorrect reporting about her husband caused her great fear, stress, and sadness.
She said that the flow of criticisms of Kei’s actions and one-sided speculation, which did not consider my feelings, made falsehoods appear to be reality, making them unprovoked stories.
Komuro hasn’t lived in Japan since 2003.
He moved to New York shortly after his marriage was delayed. After studying law at Fordham University, Bronx, he landed a clerk position at Lowenstein Sandler Manhattan. There, he counselled investors and companies on mergers and acquisitions as well as venture capital financings.
In 2017, he was also criticised for his pin-striped suit while visiting future in-laws (left). On Tuesday, he wore the same pinstripes for his second marriage ceremony.
He had become so disillusioned with his homeland that he didn’t return once to see his fiancée until going back in September to prepare for his wedding.
His trip brought even more negative publicity. Conservatives were stunned when he arrived at Narita Airport with a messy ponytail, which he had cut before getting married.
They called his hair ‘disrespectful,’ then piled the insults when they saw that he was wearing a pinstriped suit instead of a uniform. He also got married wearing pinstripes.
Also, he was criticized because of his body language. His foes claim that he has too many hands in his pockets.
But despite the negative feeling towards Komuro, the Japan Times called him ‘a polite and upstanding man.’
He was announced the winner of the New York State Bar Association’s annual student writing contest for his piece on compliance problems in website accessibility, and its implications for entrepreneurs.
The check for $2,000 was his prize, but it won’t help Mako’s $1.35million surrendered to pressure by an indifferent Japanese public. The amount is being paid to the princesses, who previously left the royal family.
High profile: Princess Mako of Japan, right, donned a traditional Jūnihitoe as she took part in a procession through Tokyo’s Imperial Palace to mark her uncle’s formal ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019
Before her graduation ceremony, Princess Mako, Akishin, was seen leaving the International Christian University in Mitaka (Tokyo), on March 26, 2014. This is where she first met her husband. She will lose her title as a princess and she won’t be allowed to return to the family if it ends in divorce.
Mako is allowed only to marry Japanese imperial males.
She is not considered to be a princess anymore – even though she marries and ends up in divorce – so she cannot return to her family.
She will now be called Mako Komuro for the first time ever in her adult life.
The passport is not required for royals. She can also apply to be a citizen of the United States by applying for one.
The Imperial Palace is no longer her home. The couple will also not have any male descendants for the male-only imperiorship.
This could create a problem for Japan as there are only three persons allowed by the Imperial Household Law in Japan to succeed Emperor Naruhito, who is now 61. One of these, his uncle Masohito at 85, is also permitted.
The couple gave prepared statements at the press conference in which they apologized to their spouse for the distress caused by their relationship. However, they defended their decision not to cancel the ceremony.
There were also no official portraits, like these ones taken of then-Crown Prince Prince Naruhito and his wife Crown Princess Masako with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko after their wedding at the Imperial Palace June 9, 1993 in Tokyo
Nauruhito is 55 years old and his brother Akishino (Moko’s father) are the other two.
Mako’s negative media coverage is what caused Mako’s decline in health.
According to the Imperial Household Agency, she was suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of public pressure.
This was made worse by protestors, who assembled in Tokyo parks holding signs decrying the marriage.