Princess Kako

Princess Kako's "Decision to Live Alone" Draws "Concern" from Within the Imperial Household Agency

Currently, Prince Akishino's family is moving out of their temporary residence, called "Gokagu-sho. However, Princess Kako is the only one of the family not making preparations for the move, and has chosen to continue living alone at the temporary residence. We have gathered some comments from inside the Imperial Household Agency regarding this move.

The renovation work began in 2019, the year of the transition to the 2025 Imperial Era, and together with the neighboring Akasaka Higashi Residence, cost approximately 3.4 billion yen. The family has been living at the temporary residence for the past four years," said a reporter in charge of the project.

Mako, who married in the fall of 2021, has also been living in this temporary residence.

Of course, the temporary residence is located within a soup kitchen's distance from Akishino's residence and is a three-story building. The construction cost is estimated to be about 1 billion yen, with the first floor used for official business, the second floor for administrative offices, and the third floor for private use.

The private space on the third floor would remain.

After the mansion was renovated and the Lord was lost, the temporary foyer was to be used as an office for the Imperial Household Agency staff. However, this plan is reportedly falling through.

The private space on the third floor will remain.

It was pointed out that Kako's "feelings for Mako" were behind her decision to live alone for the first time.

She is said to be in charge of managing Mako's belongings, which have been left behind. It has been suggested that this may reflect Kako's desire to maintain Ms. Mako's private space so that she can respond flexibly in the event that Ms. Mako returns to Japan temporarily in the future.

In response to this, there is a comment from within the Imperial Household Agency that goes something like this.

There is the usual comment that since the new Akishino residence has been completed and there is a private space there, it should be possible to handle the return of Mako, even if she comes back.

It's hard to explain to the public.

Some said, "It is difficult to judge from the current situation alone, since there is a possibility that you will move in the future, but it sounds like a declaration that you want to live apart from your parents and do not want to live with them. Others said that it is too unnatural that only one of them has not moved out, or that there is a security problem, even though the level of vigilance is not that high.

Kako is now 28 years old.

Even in ordinary families, it is not unusual for children to say that they want to live alone at that age, even if their parents' home is in a convenient location. There is no doubt that the idea of unmarried people living with their parents is an anachronism.

However, there is a concern within the Imperial Household Agency that, although Kako's idea is understandable, it may be difficult to explain to the public.

The total amount of taxpayer money spent on renovation, construction, etc. was close to 5 billion yen, so the content must be something that the public can understand. The "public and private aspects of the Imperial Family," which was the theme at the time of Mako's marriage, may be questioned once again, or a debate may erupt. ...... There were quite a few people who were concerned about this.

Perhaps the time they spent with Mako was particularly dear to them.

Source: https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/139ae3c12cdcbff3488d365b8c82b64cd15f1cf2/images/000