Prince Hisahito, the second in line to the throne, held a debut news conference on Monday, telling reporters he would try to balance official duties and his university studies and research about the dragonfly.
Hisahito turned 18 last September, becoming the first male royal family member to reach adulthood in almost four decades in Japan. It marked a significant development for a family that has ruled for more than a millennium but faces the same existential problems as the rest of the nation — a fast-aging, shrinking population.
The prince said he would follow the good examples of his uncle, Emperor Naruhito, and other elder members of the imperial family, while pursuing his university studies, beginning next month.
Speaking to reporters at the Akasaka Estate residence in Tokyo, Hisahito said he believes the role of the emperor as a symbolic figure is someone who “always thinks of the people and stays close to them.”
Hisahito is second in line to Japan's Chrysanthemum Throne, only after his father, Crown Prince Akishino. Before Hisahito's birthday last year, his father had been the last male to reach adulthood in the family in 1985.
The prince is the youngest of the 16-member all-adult imperial family and one of only five men, including former Emperor Akihito. He said he barely had time to celebrate his adulthood on Sept 6 as he is still finishing high school.
The 1947 Imperial House Law, which largely preserves conservative pre-war family values, only allows a male to succeed to the throne. Female royal members who marry commoners lose their royal status.
Hisahito's older cousin, Princess Aiko — the only child of Naruhito and his wife Masako, a Harvard-educated former diplomat — is seen as the public’s favorite, though the law for now bars her from becoming an empress, despite being in a direct line of descent.
Japan's conservative government wants to keep the royal succession male-only, without relying on women, though it is looking for a way to allow women to keep royal status if they marry commoners and serve in royal duties.
In his childhood, Hisahito showed an avid interest in insects and plans to study biology at the Tsukuba University near Tokyo, starting in April. He hopes to focus his studies on dragonflies, a species that has captivated him.
Apart from researching dragonflies and other insects, Hisahito told reporters he is also interested in studying ways to protect insect populations in urban areas. His other interests lie in growing tomatoes and rice on the palace compound.
Because Japanese royals have to stay away from politics, members of the Imperial Family tend to study biology, literature and arts. Naruhito's specialty is water transport while his father, Emperor Emeritus Akihito who abdicated in 2019, researches fish. Hisahito's father, Crown Prince Akishino, is an expert of chickens.
Japan will hold a coming-of-age palace ceremony for Hisahito on Sept 6, his 19th birthday.
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15 Comments
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Mickelicious
Poor kid looks about 12 and totally malleable.
Michael Machida
Right. He along with the others look... normal.
factchecker
Who cares.
YankeeX
Don't think he's doing much studying being ranked last in his class and plagiarizing a paper for which he won an award.
YeahRight
What "official duties"? Giving parroted answers at useless press conferences and waving his hands at the public? The whole imperial system should be abolished.
David Brent
Hey, good luck to him! If I had the chance to live in luxury, sponging off the taxpayer, getting to play-study about dragonflies, I'd take it with open hands.
zulander
Good luck to the kid - although surrounded by wealth, it can't be an easy life being surrounded by so many strict rules.
Forst
Saw extracts of this press conference on the news, and the AI-style content, the robotized presentation, plus the commentaries were frightening. Some say the center of Japan - the imperial family - is "Emptiness", couldn't be truer. I wish he grows up to get a real personality, as for the moment he's, so to say, nobody but the "son of..., candidate at the imperial throne of Japan".
Negative Nancy
While the UK royal family seems to have a lot of wealth, I've never thought the same about the Japanese Imperial family, who are well presented, but otherwise seem much more modest. I've no idea, but they all seem very shy and nerdy and I guess they have quite a weird, sheltered life behind the scenes.
ycgdude
Why is he even bothering to go to university? He could just leach off the taxpayers for the rest of his life (which he'll end up doing anyway.)
Peter Neil
the modern future of japan, with a 60-year old beatles haircut.
Cephus
"Prince Hisahito, second in line to the throne, holds first news conference."
Excellent job Hisahito, keep it up and stay strong!!
Coulda been
There is so much vital information mankind needs to know about dragonflies. We look forward with baited breath when all is revealed.
mountainpear
Oh, is that the reason? Here I was thinking the reason was because they aren't academically inclined!
Negative Nancy
That's the official line, but you don't think he is also going to be briefed on political matters behind the scenes? We may scoff at his personal interest in dragonflies and gardening, but what would we expect of someone who by birth has to live behind closed doors and almost exclusively spend time under constant surveillance? He's probably into gaming, drinking Monster and enjoying certain websites like every other teenager, but they're hardly going to report that, are they? We've never seen, as far as I'm aware, pictures from his childhood of bloody noses, scraped knees, grass-stained clothes and missing-tooth smiles. He has surely had that behind the scenes, but as part of his job, his very existence, he is depicted in a closely-controlled, micro-managed fashion.