Japan’s Princess Mako has gone to the graves of her great-grandparents to report her marriage plans.
Princess Mako of Akishino travelled to Musashi Imperial Mausolea Grounds to visit the mausoleums of her paternal great-grandparents, Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako, on Tuesday, 12 October on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Some people had gathered to see the royal visit the tombs, and she bowed and waved to those awaiting her in the drizzling rain.
This is part of a series of events she is privately undertaking ahead of her 26 October wedding to college sweetheart Kei Komuro. She also has plans to meet with her grandparents, Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko. She will also meet with her uncle and aunt, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, who have said they wish her and Komuro well.
Komuro is employed at a New York law firm, and the couple will relocate to the United States after their marriage. He recently returned to Japan in preparation for the wedding later this month. There will be no traditional imperial rites held, but the couple will meet with the press on the day of their marriage to share their thoughts.
The Princess is breaking tradition and not accepting the normal lump-sum payment from the government to female Imperial Family members upon their marriages. She had planned to decline the payment as far back as 2014.
Princess Mako is undertaking some of her last royal duties as she will be forced by law to leave the Imperial Family and renounce her titles upon marriage to a commoner. Also, on Tuesday, she met with Brazilian Ambassador to Japan Andre Correa do Lago who awarded her with a medal for her contributions to the friendly ties between Brazil and Japan.
That same day she joined her mother, Crown Princess Kiko and younger sister, Princess Kako, for the viewing of the film “Emu” about the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Japanese Federation of the Deaf.
