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Princess Kako, the younger daughter of Emperor Akihito's second son Prince Akishino, arrives at the International Christian University (ICU) campus in Tokyo for the entrance ceremony on Thursday. Princess Kako enrolled in ICU's College of Liberal Arts after quitting Gakushuin University last year.

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61 Comments
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I don't remember seeing any royal member wearing such a short skirt or having her hair curled.

Great isn't it!

11 ( +14 / -3 )

You are an immigrant in Japan. It's not your business.

Absolutely ridiculous. Being residents and not nationals means we can't vote, it doesn't mean we can't have an opinion.

10 ( +12 / -2 )

I don't remember seeing any royal member wearing such a short skirt or having her hair curled.

Someone should really lecture her. The next thing we know she's going to think she belongs somewhere outside of the kitchen. Horrific.

8 ( +11 / -3 )

Awww, she's so pretty. Congrats, Princess, I hope you get a chance to thoroughly enjoy your college years.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Princess Kako is slightly veering from the path of her parents and other members of the royal family by not graduating from Gakushuin University, and following in her older sister's footsteps, Princess Mako, by going to ICU.

It sounds like she was looking for a change after having been in the Gakushuin system since kindergarten, and also wanted a school with a bit more of an international approach given her interest in foreign studies and English.

Princess Kako is a breath of fresh air. She has a mind of her own and will most likely have a positive effect on Japan. I wish her all the best.

6 ( +9 / -3 )

It is interesting that so far nobody has raised the issue of a daughter in the imperial family going to a Christian university. After all, the Emperor is the head of Shinto. NHK says that acquiring English is one of the goals.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Sweet

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Very cute.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Kawaii !

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Good picture. That is a princess I wouldn't mind marrying.

I don' know about marrying, but dating, certainly. lol

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Personally, I think Princess Kako is very attractive in this photo. I am generally quite impressed with earnest way the Japanese Royal Family take their roles for the Japanese people.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

It's certainly not a foreigners business whether she gets her studies funded at tax-payers expenses. Some people read too much into this "I pay tax too" thing.

I pay taxes, so it most certainly is my business. Saying otherwise doesn't make it so.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

See? She shouldn't dress like a AKB48.

Yeah, because heaven forbid a woman‘s beautiful legs.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Nice!

3 ( +5 / -2 )

I bet Kako has big dreams, things she wants to study, and opportunities she's looking forward to.

So did her Aunt Masako, an amazing student, spoke a few languages, dreams of being a diplomat, and then married into the Japanese Royal Family and was marginalized into being just a birther. So sad, talent and passion wasted.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

with knee length she would look more like a nun.

fixed it for you.

i liked her sisters dress better.

i didnt, i like looking at her legs in this skirt better. but who cares what we think?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

She's cute.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

ebisenApr.

If you don't have the right to vote, you really don't have the right to complain like this on this specific issue. Take it or leave it.

What an ignorant comment.

Have you ever heard of freedom of speech?

2 ( +7 / -5 )

Princess Kako ... has a mind of her own and will most likely have a positive effect on Japan.

Really, Sensato? Is there any precedence for such a claim? I was under the impression that having a mind of your own had absolutely no effect on Japan. Shoganai.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Nice !

2 ( +2 / -0 )

She's dressed like a new office worker, not a university student nor a member of AKB.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

@tina......might as well put her in a BURKA!! The photo of her is elegant. Her attire is appropiate too. Its 2015, not 1900.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

lovely young lady

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The only thing Christian about ICU is the name, a small percentage of the staff and a smaller percentage often students. It is a very very secure environment. Isolated and good luck to anyone trying to get photos. I'd say this was taken well before the ceremony since the trees on Baka-yama are not in bloom. I hope she gets the right teachers. When will China complain about a member of the royal family attending a college where they used to manufacture Zeros.
2 ( +2 / -0 )

Peeping Tom

"All the rest is empty prattle."

That is not the experience I have with Japanese. Japanese, if fact, care more about what I say about Japan than most Americans care about what I say about America (I am America).

2 ( +2 / -0 )

She didn't transfer from Gakushuin to ICU? She quit Gakushuin last year and just did her royal duties?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Princess Kako is a breath of fresh air. She has a mind of her own and will most likely have a positive effect on Japan. I wish her all the best.

That's the problem. She doesn't have a mind of her own. Hasn't anyone else noticed that she is being pushed into the limelight recently, as the new and modern face of the Imperial family? I doubt very much that it comes of her own volition.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

The vast majority or comments here are just how cute she is or how pretty she is

Perhaps that is because it is the photo of the day we are looking at? The vast majority of comments about the photo of the day are about what the photo or the subject of the photo look like.

There is nothing wrong with this photo, Princess Kako or how she looks in this photo.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

It is interesting that so far nobody has raised the issue of a daughter in the imperial family going to a Christian university.

Nobody raised the issue because ICU's curriculum is completely secular and there are no religious requirements as far as the student body is concerned. In the old days I think all the instructors were expected to be Christian but wonder if that is still a requirement. Rikkyo, Aoyama Gakuin and Meiji Gakuin -- just to name a few -- are also considered Christian universities, incidentally.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

She is cute, and obviously has her own mind. You go girl !

1 ( +1 / -0 )

'I don't remember seeing any royal member wearing such a short skirt or having her hair curled.'

This is a very racy look.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Princess Kako looks like I did when I first attended college: scared with all the new faces and books too many to carry! But Princess Kako, this will be the best time of your life. Enjoy it and learn for all your worth.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

What we all do know is that she chose to marry the Crown Prince of her own free will

Apparently it's pretty hard, if not impossible, to refuse a proposal from the royal family.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Good picture. That is a princess I wouldn't mind marrying. Hope she gains the wisdom and education that is needed for her to find a place to excel at in life. Wonder what kind of person she'll turn out to be after she graduates.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

"I don't remember seeing any royal member wearing such a short skirt...."

Well, Prince Harry... Oh, we're only talking about Japanese royals, right?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I've always thought that Kako was the prettiest of the Japanese royals.

As for the comments about her attending a nominally "Christian" university, people should remember that the reining Emperor, Akihito, was personally privately tutored for years by one Elizabeth Grey Vining, an American Quaker Christian. The reining Empress Michiko went to the Christian "Sacred Heart Junior High and High School" in Minato, Tokyo, while in 1957 she graduated from the University of the Sacred Heart (Roman Catholic in affiliation) with a degree in Eng Lit. Finally, the Crown Princess Masako also attended the Jesuit private school Futaba Gakuen in Tokyo, while Kako's elder sister Princess Mako also graduated from the International Christian University. So yeah, all in all, quite a lot of nominally "Christian" education in most modern female Japanese Royals' history!

Barring an (extremely unlikely) change to antiquated Imperial laws which prevent a female like the Crown Prince's daughter Princess Aiko from ascending to the Chrysanthemum Throne, the young and attractive woman you see in the picture above is someday destined to become an elder sister of a future Japanese Emperor! Unfortunately, this means her future (along with her choice in marriage partners) will be highly regulated and constricted, and once she marries, she will be given a lump payment but then lose her claim to the title of "Princess" forever!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Hahaha! I love it! The vast majority or comments here are just how cute she is or how pretty she is, you know, what's really important for a woman, her looks, because as anyone who has seen the Japanese Royals after all these years know, the women speak little, walk behind the men, and have a perpetual Stepford smile.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

In any case, this is an advertising bonanza for ICU, for sure. You can't buy this type of publicity.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Following in her big sister's footsteps I see. Wonder if she needs an English tutor :)

0 ( +1 / -1 )

tinawatanabe: "With knee length she would look more elegant. I liked her sister's dresses better."

Good thing she doesn't care what you think, and an even better thing she can dress as she pleases.

I think she looks quite professional. But more importantly to me, she looks happy -- and THAT is what's attractive.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

With knee length she would look more elegant.

Her skirt looks knee length to me.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Lovely princess! Wouldn't sharing a cup of coffee be so interesting with her?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Apparently it's pretty hard, if not impossible, to refuse a proposal from the royal family.

Actually, Masako rerejected the Crown Prince's marriage proposals twice before accepting the third time the Crown Prince proposed.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

So, what you're saying is, she eventually gave in.

No, I am saying that she decided to marry him when he asked her the third time. Many in the Imperial Household were actually against her becoming Crown Princess. Despite this, it was the Crown Prince that kept being interested and pursuing her.

Because she had no choice.

You and others are claiming she was forced to do it and that it is impossible to refuse. How do you explain the other women that were on the Imperial Household's list of possible Crown Princesses that did in fact refuse? Do you seriously think Princess Masako was the only woman the Crown Prince dated or proposed to? Many were actually surprised when it was announced that she was getting married to the Crown Prince.

That is how it works.

Prove it, please. Prove what you say is true. Show evidence that what you say is true. Just repeating that 'that is how it is done in Japan', etc is not proof.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Back on topic please.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Pretty, pretty girl! I wish her well at ICU....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Pretty and very beautiful

0 ( +0 / -0 )

As a big R Republican, I dislike her status on principle. Indeed, I cannot understand why anyone supports a monarchy. Please explain if you do.

That said, she has no choice in the matter. So she may be a nice person after all. Still, she has the duty to be an exceptional person.

What a burden. Glad I was born a lowly commoner.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I bet Kako has big dreams, things she wants to study, and opportunities she's looking forward to.

Yes, and she is free to pursue them. In fact, if she chooses to marry she will become an average Japanese citizen as well.

So did her Aunt Masako, an amazing student, spoke a few languages, dreams of being a diplomat, and then married into the Japanese Royal Family and was marginalized into being just a birther. So sad, talent and passion wasted.

Let's face it. You do not know the facts behind what happened to Princess Masako anymore than anyone else commenting here does. What we all do know is that she chose to marry the Crown Prince of her own free will and that the Crown Prince has shown himself to be an extremely supportive and loving husband to Princess Masako.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

she chose to marry the Crown Prince of her own free will

It seems from this comment that you don't really understand Japan very well.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

@slumdog

So, what you're saying is, she eventually gave in. That is kind of the point. Err, actually, that is the point.

She gave in. Because she had no choice.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of people in Japan who do things their way. And they tend to not be well-connected. The more well-connected you are in Japan, the less individual liberty you possess.

Its all duty and obligation, and Old Boy and all that.

That is how it works.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Whether you like or not on her skirt length, Just like any ICU students, she is wearing ICU uniform. Juas like other girls who will be attending entrance ceremony.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

with knee length she would look more like a nun.

Not If she wears.

i like looking at her legs in this skirt

See? She shouldn't dress like a AKB48.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Perfect choice. I-See-You university, since all the tabloids will be lingering outside, waiting for an interesting shot. And that's beside the 1000plus staff of the Royal Family. Makes you wonder whether she has a tracking app in her smart-phone as well.

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

With knee length she would look more elegant. I liked her sister's dresses better.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

In the old days, Japanese female royalty had this ostensible stately role of marrying lesser court nobles, with no strategic importance to national stability, unlike their European counterparts who married kings and princes of foreign states to forge alliances (such as the marriage between the Scottish king James IV and Margaret Tudor, a daughter of Henry VII of England, which was the foundation of union between England and Scotland). Now, they quit prestigious universities to go to some random Liberal Arts College with taxpayer money. If I am right, royal family members are the only Japanese citizens who get tertiary student allowances from their government. Meanwhile, allowances, as opposed to loans which you have to commonly pay back with interest, are taken for granted by the common people of many developed Western countries.

-7 ( +4 / -11 )

"Have you ever heard of freedom of speech?"

Freedom or no freedom, the Imperial system is a Japanese institution.

Certainly only Japanese should moan and complain, or even abolish it should they wish!

It's certainly not a foreigners business whether she gets her studies funded at tax-payers expenses.

Some people read too much into this "I pay tax too" thing.

What's that got to do with an immigrant if the Queen has been in power for 59 odd years!

-7 ( +3 / -10 )

"I pay taxes, so it most certainly is my business. Saying otherwise doesn't make it so."

You are an immigrant in Japan. It's not your business.

Saying otherwise certainly doesn't make it so.

-12 ( +3 / -15 )

Yeah, since our collective taxes contribute to her higher education and nothing can be done otherwise, I want to act in her best interest by asking why wasn't she given a better opportunity than ICU?

-13 ( +3 / -16 )

I don't remember seeing any royal member wearing such a short skirt or having her hair curled.

-13 ( +4 / -17 )

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