Empress Masako turns 59; reflects on half a lifetime as royal

She doesn’t look 59 years. She looks a lot younger.

Half a lifetime on medications and treatment to adjust and survive living in the Royal Family, under the supervision and direction of the Imperial Household Agency,

She is very beautiful, and looks like she has aged extremely well for a 59 years oold. BTW, I'm sure she loves all her family, AND we are all challenged by our mental health at some point in time.

Best wishes to the Empress and may 2023 brings her great joy and achievements.

happy birthday.

I wish her Happy Birthday - Yes, she did choose her path ultimately and sadly she couldn't cope - and we all know the the IHA are a group of unsympathetic, out of touch ***. However that shouldn't stop everybody wishing her well. She is the Empress after all. She is also an incredibly intelligent and knowledgable woman.

She's ended up giving up half of her life in service to the nation and taken little joy from it personally. At least she was rewarded with a child eventually after the awful amount of pressure that was put on her.

This Lady is my HERO. Battered and abused by the household agency for years.

Happy birthday Empress Masako.

No-one held a gun to her head.

Only said by someone who doesnt understand the culture of Japan, and particularly in her family's case, sense of duty.

Not all weapons are guns.

Happy birthday to Empress Masako.

Why does the big compliment for a woman have to be that she "looks younger than her age"?

It's a compliment for men too.

At 59 she still keeps her youthfulness looks about her.

Oh well half my life has sucked and I have spent most of it with a stress disorder, but shogani.

She doesn’t look 59 years. She looks a lot younger.

well i think she looks far less stressed now that shes the bosses wife. isnt being pushed around as much now

Many happy returns Empress Masako.

I read this as saying "I have a life that comes with privileges, one that I don't have any control over and is thanking those who kept her sane!

"I have gone through many times of joy, as well as times of sorrow. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the emperor and many others who have supported and watched over me every step of the way," the empress said in a statement released by the Imperial Household Agency

It's not " shogani "... it's " shoganai !

Japan is not North Korea. Not yet, at any rate

You still dont get it do you? The sense of "duty" particularly for her, and her family's status in Japan, and the incredible honor her family receives for raising their daughter in such a manner that she was chosen to be the wife of the next emperor, is beyond enormous.

She evidently refused the offer of marriage, numerous times, if news reports are to be believed, and yet she still fulfilled her "duty" and now is the Empress of Japan.

The pressure she was under, is probably worse than a "gun to the head", as at least if someone pulled the trigger, she would not have had to go through all the misery she has been through.

Happy Birthday Your Royal Highness, . . . お誕生日おめでとう!

Why does the big compliment for a woman have to be that she "looks younger than her age"? Why can't she just look healthy and happy? There should be no shame in, men or women, looking the years they've lived.

she is the tatemae incarnation itself..

I wish her well. Everything she did was her choice. Happy Birthday.

under the supervision and direction of the Imperial Household Agency,

i doubt the imperial household director is pushing her around as much now

Abbey so you understood what I mentioned but instead of commenting on the story found it compelling to correct my spelling, you must be a delight at parties.

Shoganai!

Abbey so you understood what I mentioned but instead of commenting on the story found it compelling to correct my spelling, you must be a delight at parties.

;-)

Poor girl being forced into a marriage by all accounts she never wanted!