Crown prince says review of official royal duties required

Agreed. They should all retire.

I have been slow and hesitant

So very honored that us humble common-folk are given the privilege of continuing to fund the extravagant lifestyle of this family with our hard-earned tax payments, in order for them to reward our monetary servitude with their gracious slowness and hesitancy.

Poor Crown Prince Fumihito, so overworked!

@Jay - Nobody forces you to live in a Monarchy.

...I'm assuming you are NOT Japanese.

@Jay - Perhaps as a guest of Japan who chose to come here, you should have done better research about where your tax would be going before accepting your assignment here. Childish responses invoking your paranoia of a long past sell by date of an idol group only make you look more ridiclous.

Pretty simple solution for the dwindling number of royal house members: Move into the 21st century.

Allow females to take on more important official roles, and those females who marry commoners to remain if they wish.

It's not rocket science.

Its nearly 2024... Do we still really need a royal family?

I think not.

Its nearly 2024... Do we still really need a royal family?

You arent Japanese , so why the "we"?

it is good to see Princess Mako live happily with her husband in NY. i found that she smile deep from her heart from the paparazzi photo taken in the NY street

Dreadfully boring people

Please dont talk about Factchecker and other gaijins like that. Please have some respect.

I can understand why they'd want a review. All that standing around trying to look interested would get to you after a while. Nothing personal against the family though, they seem alright though pretty stifled. Imagine not being allowed to have a public opinion on anything. Or maybe they hang out on JT for a bit of anonymous trolling.

it is good to see Princess Mako live happily with her husband in NY.

FYI, she isnt a princess anymore. She is just "Mako-san" nothing more, nothing less. Oh wait Mako Komuro.

“So very honored that us humble common-folk are given the privilege of continuing to fund the extravagant lifestyle of this family with our hard-earned tax payments”

Don’t worry. The Imperial Household Agency is funded and financed by issuing government bonds. Your hard-earned tax money is not used to support the family.

The Japanese imperial family has been shrinking as female members are required to give up their royal status upon marrying 

Right here, your problem, Fumihito San.

The current total stands at 17, with 12 being women.

lol

Princess Kiko has a rare, ethereal beauty.

The Imperial family always maintains a quiet dignity while serving the empire. The British royal family should take notes.

Princess Kiko has a rare, ethereal beauty.

To each their own, bit Kiko looks like an illustration from a chapter on the circa-300BC Yayoi people in a 1930's anthropology encyclopedia.

Kako on the other hand, now that's a good-looking lady.

I think that Princess Aiko will be an excellent Empress. Change the constitution so that will be possible now

Gabriel Sheffield...

The Imperial family always maintains a quiet dignity while serving the empire. The British royal family should take arsenic.

You are correct.

All fascinating points,but why are they still referred to as an Imperial family?

Where is the empire?

I never heard Queen Elizabeth complain about here workload.

At least he doesn't need to make any important decisions. The roles are all ceremonial and "rubber stamps" for what the politicians have decided.

Other people prioritize what's most important and either don't deal with less important things or they send a representative. Seems clear that this family could do the same - have it fluctuate based on the number of core family adults.

This isn't rocket science. Prioritize.

Prince Hisahito is a handsome young man.

It's tough work deciding which imperial garden to walk through for a photo shoot and choosing between the finest teas from Kyoto or Shizuoka for an afternoon tea break.

Japanese Royalty isn't really like the UK Royals. They have a lavish lifestyle, but it's heavily dictated by the Imperial Household Agency. Any attempts to modernize or make them more approachable by younger royals has been blocked by the Grand Stewards.

I don't expect that to change because the Imperial Household Agency is 1000 people with cushy, well paid, and prestigious jobs. The Grand Stewards are generally former high level government officials and ministers.

They seem to enjoy spending a lot of money to uphold traditions.

Meanwhile King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands has been a KLM pilot for decades.

I'm a little confused. There is none of this venom against the British Royalty and I wonder why the Japanese Royalty is so much worse. There are other royalties in other countries that no one seems to attack at all. Why all the negative comments about the Japanese Royalty seems, well, hypocritical. I seem to be confused by the stance people here have taken.

@MotMotMot When my wife worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs she needed to coordinate with the Imperial Household Agency on a royal visit to a SE Asian country. Let's just say that they are not the easiest people to work with.

The Japanese imperial family has been shrinking as female members are required to give up their royal status upon marrying commoners under the 1947 Imperial House Law. The current total stands at 17, with 12 being women.

The solution then is to have a male member marry multiple women, and subsequently bear more royal children.

Or when female members marry, give their husbands royal status.

His heart aches for the Palestinian children…..not so much for the Israeli children then?!

Very few foreigners know about the imperial family.

In the first place, GHQ confiscated most of the imperial family's assets after the war, so it was decided that they would be covered by taxes instead.

If you want to complain about the way tax dollars are being spent, you should first complain to GHQ, which is the company that made the decisions, that is, the United States.

America is also the reason why the male line of the imperial family is not inherited.

This is because GHQ has excluded most of the imperial family, which is the bloodline of His Majesty the Emperor, from the imperial family.

The people do not want a female emperor or a female emperor, nor do they want the imperial family to become discontinued. The only Japanese people who would want that would be communists.

China wants Japan's imperial family, which has strong political influence, to be severed.

It is these people who are pushing for a female emperor or female emperor. Unless the Emperor is genetically inherited from ancient times, the Japanese will not be able to accept him.

The solution would be to restore the imperial family and increase the number of successors.

However, this is expected to be opposed by the United States and China.

The Japanese imperial family enjoys more support from the public than the British royal family, but it has many enemies, including China.

Foreigners of Chinese or Korean nationality may have a negative view of Japan's imperial family. This is because they have learned the interesting history of suffering under the Japanese emperor.

People who make negative comments are exposed, so to speak, where they come from.

However, this is expected to be opposed by the United States and China.

70 yrs ago, the US cared. "God" status was bad for Japan, completely ending the war and long term peace. Today, the US doesn't care at all about the Japanese royals. Do whatever you like. Keep them if you like or let them get jobs. Whatever. Less than 0.00001% of the USA cares.