Princess Nori's Wedding

November 17 (Thursday) 2005

On November 15, Princess Nori (Nori-no-miya)'s wedding ceremony and reception were held. The groom was Tokyo Metropolitan Government worker Yoshiki Kuroda. Following the wedding, Princess Nori lost her royal title and become Mrs. Sayako Kuroda.

Princess Nori is the third child and only daughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, and received an especially affectionate upbringing. However, having little oppportunity for marriage, she remained single until her mid-thirties.

Princess Nori's wedding ceremony and reception was symbolically significant in several ways. First, despite the fact that it was the wedding of woman from the royal family, it was quite comparable to that of the average Japanese citizen, and was conducted in an extremely simple and sound fashion. The location was the Imperial Hotel, which is often used by commoners; only 130 guests attended; total cost was 60 million yen; there was no matchmaker; it was conducted in a humble style with only close friends and family.

The second important significance was the attendance of the Emperor and Empress. Both Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko were present to send off their beloved daughter, staying and communing together from the beginning to the very end. This was the first time that an Emperor or Empress were present at the wedding reception of a child who was leaving the home for marriage in the nearly 2000 years of the monarchy. Even more notably, the newlyweds were not seated on an elevated stage and behind a screen, as is the usual custom, but instead sat face-to-face around the same table with their parents, the Emperor and Empress, and enjoyed a warm and relaxed wedding reception. This arrangement was even more intimate than the average commoner's wedding reception, and the bonds between parent and child could be felt deeply.

The third significance of Princess Sayako's wedding was the particular level of parental love that the Emperor and Empress displayed regarding their daughter's marriage and leaving home. The Emperor's words to Princess Sayako were, "Hereafter, we shall no longer engage in public work together; however, the bonds of family do not change, and you are welcome home from time to time." Embracing her newlywed daughter, the Empress repeated over and over, "It's okay, it's okay." Considering the position of the Emperor and Empress, there is no greater expression of love than this.

The impression that we citizens receive through the above episode is one that goes beyond the mere polite courtesy of the royal family; more than this, Princess Nori's wedding represents humble simplicity, a ceremony not caught up in formalities, but a touching one that personifies honesty, a father and mother's compassion for their child, and a child's deep love and respect for her parents.

Today in Japan, in many ways families are breaking down, parent-child relationships are growing weak, and there is a strong trend of forgetting to genuinely express one's feelings of love. Within this environment, I feel that through Princess Nori's wedding, the image of the royal family was one of a family's love for each other, and unadorned, deep respect; indeed, I see in it the very basis of how we all should live our lives.

I offer my humble prayers that Mr. Yoshiki Kuroda and Mrs. Sayako Kuroda will have a long and happy life together.