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© 2021 AFPPrincess Mako diagnosed with PTSD; to marry Kei Komuro on Oct 26
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3RENSHO
Congratulations...!
gakinotsukai
Being rich doing nothing is worth some media coverage no ?
JBird
gakinotsukai Today 05:08 pm JST
Not really…
Paul
Like I said before, parasitic media has blown this out of all proportions!!! We are talking about ONLY 4 million, if it was 4 trillion yen, I would understand. But 4 million????!!!! Most people in Japan have debts of about 50 million for house/mansion + car + education loans. So 4 million is a tiny amount which did not warrant such media coverage, unless media's intention was to throw a wrench in to this relationship and create a crap storm to feed themselves...
Paul
Because of this, she can't take public money and now suffering from PTSD. All this reminds me of Diana...
TheReds
Just let them get married and do what they want. It is their life!
snowymountainhell
It’s finally ’official’. No longer just a “boyfriend”. Princess Mako can now marry her “fiancé” Kei Komuro.
“Congratulations on your wedding engagement!“cleo
Three years' separation from the man she loves and what should be a private, personal decision splashed all over the news, her own father talking on telly about how 'the people' need to be persuaded....probably more than enough to drill holes in the head of someone who's so far led a pretty sheltered life.
Like she's done so far? (not).
Female members of the Japanese royal family tend to fade into oblivion once they leave the family. I'm sure she and Kei-kun will do the same.
Nosui
Feel a bit sorry for them - neither of them seems to have sought the limelight and yet are put under the microscope.
Of course though I would love for them to give a final press conference and just give a big f-you to all the people privately and publicly who have put them under pressure.
Wish them all the best!
GdTokyo
He’s good enough for her. That’s good enough for me.
snowymountainhell
A similar topic was addressed in a JT “opinion” piece/question today about the differences of Western & Japanese media,
As it appears common lately, it may be to garner some public sentiment for a politician, royal or celebrity, therefore necessitating some type of editorial tag to a news story about said person.
snowymountainhell
One additional benefit to this evening’s *official ***IHA announcement of their engagement*, it may finally “quiet” (to put it, politely) the self-proclaimed, “common sense” “Know-It-Alls of ALL THINGS JAPAN”*:
fleg
When three consecutive generations of female imperial family members have suffered from mental illness under the "exacting standard" to which they are held, perhaps it's time for the government, the Imperial Household Agency, the family itself, the press, and the public to re-evaluate the rigid and oftentimes unnecessary expectations placed upon the imperial family. First, there's Empress Emerita Michiko, who has twice literally been rendered mute for lengthy periods, first as crown princess, mostly due to bullying from her mother-in-law, and then again as Empress due to pressures from the IHA and scrutiny from the press. Her second pregnancy was also terminated after a medically advised abortion, once again due to pressures of the job. She has also suffered several other stress-induced mental and physical health issues over the decades. Then there's her daughter-in-law, Empress Masako, who has been suffering from an almost two-decade period of depression and self-isolation first triggered by the pressure to produce a male heir as well as from the almost complete loss of her personal freedoms on top of relentless tabloid coverage. It has only been the last few years that she has started taking part in a very limited number of official engagements. This brings us to the third generation: Princess Aiko, daughter of the Emperor and Empress, who stopped attending elementary school at one point for an extended time due to social anxiety and alleged bullying, and, now we have her older cousin, Princess Mako suffering from PTSD caused by a years-long postponement of her marriage and the resulting press scrutiny over a money issue she had absolutely nothing to do with.
BertieWooster
This condition was apparently brought on by extensive media coverage. So, why does Japan Today choose to make a big headline out of it?
buchailldana
My wife has been going on for years that this marriage is wrong or that Komura is dodgy
Today I said what business is it if yours?.
None.
Just leave them be.
The usual media frenzy .
Yubaru
Just where in the world do you get the number 4 million?
Read the article....
150 million yen is about $1.4 million or so in US $.
Nowhere is the amount of 4 million yen mentioned
quercetum
The princess’ experience has uncanny echoes of that of Princess Masako.
She has declined the traditional lump-sum payment of around 150 million yen given the furor over the Komuro family’s finances the media has roused.
Yubaru
You think posting this article here is a "big deal?"
mz16
I probably wouldn't even remember my fiance(e) if I didn't see them for three years.....
smithinjapan
She is still being traumatized daily by the media, so when is the "post" to have started?
Mr Kipling
PTSD ? Really? I only hope that after the marriage they are happy, move away and we will never hear about them again.
dbsaiya
Move to NY, wear sunglasses, T-shirt and jeans and pal around with Harry and Meghan and really watch the Japanese press go ape... Get outa here, and go enjoy your life.
snowymountainhell
Poor Mako-san. It’s understood what happens amongst commenters but seems even the editors and staff are not exempt from “*sniping**” *and the questioning of their decisions and journalistic integrity:
*@Yubaru 6:54pm***: “You think posting this article here* is a "big deal?*"
Numan
Or, the PTSD is from her parents and the Imperial Household Agency!
Seems more likely!
Chibakun
Who pays for her security in NYC?
ShinkansenCaboose
@Snow: Excellent post! So true about the sniping part.
Alfie Noakes
Isn't this Komuro's family rumoured to be of Korean origin, which is why so many are against their marriage?
ReynardFox
How can you say such a thing??
He didn’t wear a tie when he got off the plane. According to some commenters, that makes him worse than Hitler. /s
englisc aspyrgend
I have no doubt the media feeding frenzy has not helped her mental condition but I do not think the IHA can escape responsibility for effectively imprisoning the family in a cage of rigid protocol to control their every action and thought, they make North Korea look positively liberal!.
Alfie, don’t see the point of your comment? As Korean nobles and families migrated to Japan over millennia, simple arithmetic dictates most Japanese today can trace their ancestry back to Koreans at some point (with the possible exception of the Ainu).
isoducky
The a-hole in me wants to say “finally a Japanese royal in touch with the modern generation” but having what should be a celebration of the next phase of her life being fodder news outlets, and not being allowed to capitalize on makes me feel for her. I hope the royal host enjoys the mud bath, it is well deserved.
cleo
Four million yen is the amount of the loan made by Komuro’s mother’s ex.
Apparently people who have relatives who have debt aren’t allowed to get married.
In 2001 (I think it was) the then-Emperor Akihito talked at the press conference to mark his 68th birthday, about his own Korean roots. Pots and kettles, dark colors?
Who cares about ‘origins’.
Wolfpack
It’s a wasted opportunity to kick females out of the Japanese royal family upon marriage. But in this young ladies case it is a blessing in disguise.
I still cannot fathom how the Komuro’s mother’s money problems have anything to do with him. She is responsible for her own obligations. On a side note, how the royals ever let this issue become a problem is ridiculous. Couldn’t a wealthy supporter be found to fix the problem?
snowymountainhell
Good for you @cleo 10:04pm giving another self-proclaimed, ‘know-it-all about all-things-Japan’ their comeuppance with ‘facts’. Seems they’re always so focused on “Read the article’ AND ‘sniping another reader’s comments about current events that they failed to recall the whole initial issue that delayed this now ‘official’ engagement in the first place.
@cleo 10:04pm: “Four million yen is the amount of the loan made by Komuro’s mother’s ex.” Seems your “common sense” prevails over some oft-touted yet over-boasted, ‘in-country’ experience.
Robotron
PM goes out for an expensive dinner on the tax payers dime
"Wow, how could he do this! Great job keeping him in power oji-san”
Media speculates if it's right to give tax payer money to the princess that might be used to pay his family debt
"How is it any of your business? Just leave them alone."
Seems a bit hypocritical.
Harry_Gatto
Mild depression is what she is suffering from, not PTSD.
Her parents have a lot to answer for, despite what they have said their lack of support for their daughter has been appalling. Both of the girls are sensible and generally well-balanced but I dislike their parents intensely and the boy is far too much like his father for my liking.
Yrral
Loveless, unsupported marriage,is a recipe for disaster,a miserable wife,is a miserable life
Peter Neil
I wonder if the public can sue the media for inflicting emotional distress on everyone with their constant paparazzi-ing (I made a new word) of royalty?
nandakandamanda
@Yrral, ‘loveless’, you reckon? Do you not think they love each other?
Yrral
Nandakandmanda,Maybe Japanese have a different concept of love,than most people,maybe they love each other,in their own special way,I hope they love each other,or they both will be miserable
Desert Tortoise
I wouldn't be so sure about the living large part. NYC is hideously expensive even on an attorneys pay.
Desert Tortoise
If they have children, and from the looks in their eyes children seen guaranteed ^_^ those children will be US citizens.
Desert Tortoise
This whole thing sadly is becoming Harry and Megan East. I can imagine her royal handlers and perhaps her parents too have said and done things that are not nice to traumatize her. She also did relief work after the Tohoku Earthquake without revealing her identity. She undoubtedly saw death. That may have been traumatic too.
ZENJI
The Imperial Household Agency has decided this.
This Malicious Agency obsesses with the destruction of Imperial Household members.
Luddite
Leave them alone. Both the IHA and the media have needlessly exacerbated a private issue and involved those who had nothing to do with it. I hope they move to the US and never look back.
Alan Harrison
Once she gets married, leaves Japan behind, I think that she will recover quickly. Although you can't choose your family (she will always be stuck to some degree with her ghastly parents) she can detach from them. The best advice I would give to her parants is "Never demonize anybody, because you will come out of it looking the biggest demon of all".
Peter Neil
Well, I feel sorry for her. Good luck to her and him in their escape from the clutches of the royal handlers and the press.
Alan Harrison
I own a small cottage in a very rural part of England. They are both very welcome to stay there for a while and recuperate before they go to NY.. I know that the people in the village are very discrete and would probably love to invite them for a pint.in the pub. They could both try their luck at the pub quiz and win a free pint.
ReasonandWisdomNippon
Congratulations to Princess Mako and Kei Komuro.
Moving to USA will be good life experience. Good for the future children to get some experience and exposure outside of Japan.
More of our citizens should travel and live overseas, understanding the world that we live in and how to compete is necessary for Japan's survival. That's why Kono was my pick... LDP was too afraid of him.
Yrral
Weasel, nobody in America,knows who she and really cares,put her up their with Diana,is a stretch of your imagination
n1k1
What if she falls in love with a gaijin in NY, dumps Komuro and have cute half gaijin children.
Asiaman7
Isn’t it odd that any Imperial family woman who choses to forge her own path is diagnosed by the Imperial Household Agency with a mental health issue — “adjustment disorder” for Empress Masako and now “complex PTSD” for Princess Mako.
Alan Harrison
Isn’t it odd that any Imperial family woman who choses to forge her own path is diagnosed by the Imperial Household Agency with a mental health issue — “adjustment disorder” for Empress Masako and now “complex PTSD” for Princess Mako.
Of course she is mentally ill. She cab actually think outside the box. Definatly a PTSD for thinking like this. Maybe we should'nt be too hard on the media (which reports on statements from her family anyway). Her own family has caused the "PTSD".
MrHeisei
PTSD is about post trauma. I don’t know why her experience is considered trauma, and kinda makes a mockery of what PTSD really is and what PTSD sufferers are going through. It sounds like depression and inability to handle the stress of being a public figure.
In any case, let them be. Other people’s decisions should not be entertainment for us.
Sven Asai
That’s no news at all. Try nowadays to find anyone who still is syndrome-free instead. I guess that would be much more difficult for media and paparazzi. lol
Numan
It appears that her parents and Royal Household Agency was trying to pressure her privately and through the media by giving them details in hopes that she would give up.
However, she and Komuro had more moxy than the family realized. This wedding is happening rather her parents wants it or not. I looked forward to them having a better life in the US.
Ironically, the same people on this thread supporting the young princess was also badmouthing Meghan and Harry. Hypocrites!
jeancolmar
Princess Mako is a trooper !! Yes she is !
shogun36
Can they just hurry up and get married, so we don't have to see anything about this anymore?
Kobe White Bar Owner
I’ve had ptsd and it truly sucks. I hope she gets the help she needs!
Hito Bito
I see the fact that Royalty are now being publicly diagnosed with real medical conditions when they have them to be progress. It shows that the present generation of Royals can force even the Household Ministry to call a spade a spade in public, not wrapping it up in useless euphemisms. The fact that Masako-sama's previously serious conditions were given non-medical names or vague-sounding symptoms, for example, probably contributed to her condition actually worsening.
Calling PTSD PTSD is a good start. It shows that this princess IS suffering from something that's not all of her own doing, not some "mood swing", "ill-humour", "lingering ennui" or "retiring conditions" that make it seem as if the woman is at fault for her situation, as well as requiring her to self-correct such "unfortunate attitudes".
Get out of the country, Mako-sama. Get treatment, get better and then get accustomed to your newfound Freedom outside the suffocating fishbowl Japan can often be. (Just don't sign a Netflix contract and seek out Hollywood celebutante status, while simultaneously moaning on about your "lack of privacy"...as some other "former royals" have recently done, pretty please!)
Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne
Social media probably not helping her PTSD episodes.
She probably would like a little privacy
kurisupisu
Ponytail?
Where is the real news in Japan?
Kobe White Bar Owner
For anyone who is interested. CPTSD come from many little “attacks” at our flight or fight response. Where PTSD comes from a horrific experience.
Alan Harrison
Alan HarrisonToday 05:11 am JST
They would be subject to UK Covid entry requirements first. Negative test and 10 days in a quarantined hotel costing 2250 pounds.
Maybe no bad thing, give them 10 days together of quality time. I believe that the food is quite good in these hotels. The £2250.00 may be a problem sinse she has refused the ¥150,000,000, but maybe they can get a loan.
Does NY have similar restrictions at the moment?
itsonlyrocknroll
I never thought that 4 million yen could cause such nuisance, aggravation, and finally for Princess Mako shell shock.
All roads here lead to the Royal Household Agency.
Been briefing against the fellow from day one.
That photo is a tad disconcerting.
Frankly, the Kei Komura, is not the same Kei Komura that returned to Tokyo to start quarantine.
Is that hair appendage a modern day, 21st century chonmage, my friends seem to think so.
Tim Sullivan
Finding somewhere decent to live in NYC could be difficult on his salary -- they could live in Trump Tower if Donald gives them a discount.
Tim Sullivan
"Two young newlyweds can live happily anywhere". I doubt that a princess who has grown up in a castle will be happy about taking the No. 4 train from Grand Central to a 2DK in the Bronx.
itsonlyrocknroll
Pretty please just let both enjoy the wedding and nuptials both wish, make it a special occasion.
Princess Mako and Kei Komura, first friendship, blossomed into romance, grew into a passionate deep affection from the one we are prepared to devote our lives to no matter the outcome.
Give them a break.
itsonlyrocknroll
Has love and devotion has been relegated to some form mental illness?
Whether Kei Komura is the most eligible bachelor, he is still Princess Mako prince charming.
miss_oikawa
PTSD?? Stress perhaps but not PTSD.
japantrojan
We are living in a parasitic paradigm and this story is yet another example of that. She's simply desiring to marry the person of her choice and no longer be obligated to play by outdated rules of royalty and yet the media gives her grief for it. Even this JT headline, which gives the impression that her PTSD caused her to make this decision, rather than her making this decision led to the media frenzy that caused the PTSD.
Anyway, like any couple engaging on the adventure and challenge of marriage, I wish both of them well. It'd be nice if the media did, too.
miss_oikawa
Count yourself lucky!
Luddite
No, Zichi. Surprisingly, Japan has never been on the UK Red List, where hotel quarantines are mandatory. I quarantined at home. Now, if you are double vaccinated and not travelling from a Red List country, you do not need to quarantine. If I go back to Japan, despite being doubled vaccinated, I would have to quarantine in a government detention centre. No, ta.
WA4TKG
PTSD?; Really?
Try two full years of listening to the “Incoming, Incoming” Alarm, I’ll show you PTSD
Brian William Meissner
IM JUST gonna say REALLY???? I’m a US military vet…… PTSD?????
1glenn
Could they just elope, and run away from Japan?
Luddite
All those people here saying only those who have served in the armed forces can get PTSD are talking rubbish. This isn’t a trauma pissing contest.
snowymountainhell
First, “*Thank You for your service”**@BrianWilliamMeissner 12:06pm. **And second, as @Kobe AND @Luddite 7:55pm **point out, there are other* forms of PTSD than just those from “combat duty”. (Perhaps @7:55pm could be a little more diplomatic in their explanation for people to have a better understanding?
snowymountainhell
Your initial post from Oct 1 @zichi 8:44pm was another account of how PTSD is not solely relegated a diagnosis for combat veterans or crime victims. Still can’t’ understand why it was removed when that particular, personal account would educate more people. Best Wishes to all who have experienced PTSD.
Brian William Meissner
Correct it’s not a trauma pissing contest as a matter of fact I would love to see them write an article on how social media can cause ptsd.
sf2k
should have kept the money into a foundation fund to sue every papparazzi that will be hounding her for the rest of her life
Chabbawanga
Poor poor rich people and their extravagant, celebrity lifestyles. Poor them. It must be so hard having a never ending supply of money. How dare the evil media bully these poor rich people.
Danielsan
A person with a diagnosed case of PTSD may not be held responsible for entering into a contract.
This could give the Princess a way out of the marriage should unforseen problems occur.
streetcat
There are rumors that Kei Komuro's uncle (his mother's younger brother) is a leader of the Organized Crime Group. And Komuro's mother.
Kei's mother is suspected of fraudulently defrauding the bereaved family pension from the country.
(She was bereaved of her husband (Kei's father) by suicide by fire 10 years ago. But she was receiving the bereaved family pension, while she illegally concealed that she had received a large amount of living expenses from her fiancé. )
Luddite
I know. Why do I have to go to a detention centre, even for three days. What is the point?
starpunk
If he truly loves her he'll understand. As for all the stress she has from being in the limelight, it ain't like she asked for it. I wish tje both of them all the best. And if they ain't gonna have their wedding in a 'Big Fat Greek' way then that's their biz, it's fine.
Let them unite on their special day and let them live their lives. Leave them alone.
Laguna
I worked too hard to put my two kids through American colleges without borrowing money. For nine years, I was lucky to have one day off a month. "Burned out" is one way to put it; "PTSD" is another. Fortunately, my kids are on their own feet now and I've drastically cut back on my schedule. But for the royals, that's not really possible. They have my sympathy.
Seesaw7
Princess Mako diagnosed with PTSD
OMG, is this huge title really necessary? Whoever wrote this news must be so insensitive to others feelings.