9 familiar questions of diary life of the Japanese imperial families

In commemoration to the upcoming ceremony of the enthronement of the prince, “Naruhito”(徳仁), to the emperor, and abdication of the present emperor, “Akihito”(明仁), to the Emperor Emeritus, held at the end of April, I want to talk about emperor’s lifestyle, which we do know much about.

Various Rumors about the emperor’s lifestyle run rampant around nations probably because no information about the lifestyle of the imperial family is disclosed in public through mass media.

In contrast to the royal family of the UK, a regular of TV, that liberally shows off its celebrity and private lifestyle in public, the Japanese imperial families are strictly restricted to appearing in public except for official duty on public occasion.

Mass communication in Japan is prohibited to reach out to one of the imperial families to cover a story personally. It is just allowed to add a comment to a video about the imperial family, provided by the government, and attend the formal press conference that what reporters can be asked is already fixed on a script requested by the Imperial household agency and take a video of the emperor waiving his hands, blending in with general crowd, without getting too close on public occasion.

So, it is no exaggerated that the imperial family’s diary life is in the veil that nobody can peep in. In such a situation where there are few informative materials that tell about imperial families, I want to introduce what kind of lifestyle they spend in terms of our familiar dairy things.

Diary life of the imperial families

What they call each other, the emperor and empress personally?

Honorific titles are officially regulated in the imperial house law, depending on the rank. the Emperor and the Empress have a title of “Heika”(陛下), equivalent of “his majesty” and “her majesty”. Other imperial family members have a title of “Denka” (殿下), equivalent of “his highness” and “her highness”.

These honorific titles are also used in private. Her Majesty, “Michiko” and her highness, “Masako” calls their husband a combination of their names and each honorific title like Akihito haika and Naruhito denka. Of course, they simply use only each honorific title.

In contrast, how do both his Majesty and his Highness call their wives in private? They seem to call their wives by their names directly. For example, when his Majesty, “Akihito” calls her Majesty, “Michiko”, he calls her, “Michiko”. Likewise, when his Highness, “Haruhito” calls her Highness, “Masako”, he calls, “Masako”.

Her Highness, “Aiko”, daughter of “Naruhito” and “Masako” is called “Ai-chan” when she was a little. She called her father, “Papa”, and her mother, “Mama”.

When his majesty, “Akihito”, was a little child, he also seemed to call his father and mother, “Papa”, “Mama”. As he grew, he changed how he called to his parents to noble language style like “Omou-sama”(father), “Otata-sama”(mother).

Aiko-sama is 16 years old now and she may possibly call her parents in this way now.

It seems like imperial families gradually change how they call each other from a familiar way to a formal way as they grow up. Chamberlain in charge of the imperial family’s children care provides education by stages on how to behave domestically.

In fact, no matter how close a relationship with each other is domestically, even though it is brothers and sisters, and parents and a child, they are obliged to speak to each other with honorific words. This habit always brings them awareness as a symbol of Japan.

Of course, they separate how they speak to others domestically from how they speak to others externally. For the imperial family’s children, using noble words in school makes them out of place.

Does his majesty can send someone a letter and make a call to someone personally?

Yes, he can do it. However, he can’t write his name on a letter as a sender. Instead, a chamberlain will send his Majesty’s letter as a sender. This is a measure for the case that someone opens a letter to see what his majesty wrote.

The Showa emperor, “Hirohito”, sent letters to his grandsons, “Naruhito” and “Fumihito” in the name of the Grand Chamberlain when he went abroad.

Crown Prince’s Palace and Akishinonomiya palace is connected on a direct line. The imperial family people don’t pick up a phone even if ringing but a Chamberlain will pick up and relay them a call.

When his majesty is really busy with his official duties, he only passes the word to a chamberlain without answering the phone.

Whether or not, his Majesty has a cell phone is not disclosed in public. Some time ago, before Sayako Norinomiya was married to Kuroda, Kuroda was questioned how he contacted to the Highness “Sayoko, Norinomiya”. He threw out a hint of using a cell phone or e-mail by answering “we have various ways to contact with each other nowadays”.

Does his majesty, sing or enjoy drinking?

Is there no way his majesty, the national symbol, sings at Karaoke?

Actually, according to gossip to be leaked, imperial family members really king singing at karaoke. When they have a meeting in private, they frequently enjoy singing.

His Majesty’s favorite song is “Sendo-Kouta”.

Her Majesty’s favorite song is “Kokoni-Shiawaseari”.

His highness, “Naruhito”, grabs a mic not only at imperial family’s meeting but also over drinks with old school friends. His highness’s favorite song is “Tugarukaikyo, Fugugeshiki”

THe favorite song of his highness, “Fumihito Akishinonomiya”, brother of “Naruhito”, is Beetles songs.

Dirinking is not always but they enjoy it occasionally when there is a meeting with old school friends and other imperial family members.

Does his and her majesty have a credit card?

His majesty and her majesty seem not to have a credit card. But, other imperial family members have a credit card. There is an anecdote that his highness, “Naruhito” used his visa card while going abroad to study in England.

From 1983 to 1985, he went to study at Oxford University for 2 years. He strived to study English as homesteading at Tom Haul’s house, who is retired colonel, for the first 3 months.

After entering Merton college, he spent dorm life. At this time, he needed to take care of everything in his living. When he bought something he needed for his living, he bought it with a visa card, “gold”.

This story is written in a book named “With Thames”, his own memoir work about 2-year campus life in Oxford.

Does his and her majesty have a passport?

His majesty and her majesty show neither their passports nor a visa, which is originally in need of entering the country when they people abroad. This habit is based on the customary international law that indicates a sovereign of state doesn’t need to bring a passport and visa.

Likewise, when other country’s sovereign visits Japan, the Japanese government doesn’t demand passport production and visa acquisition.

However, the imperial family members to who this custom is adapted are only the Emperor and the Empress of Japan.

The imperial family members except for his majesty and her majesty, including the prince, are obliged to take both own passport and visa to enter the country when going abroad as with general nations.

However, the imperial family’s passport is uniquely different from the general one in terms of its expiration. For example, their passports are expired by just one time trip as if it were a round trip passport. For that reason, as often as one of the imperial family members go abroad, the Imperial Household Agency demands passport renewal procedure to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

What is written in the imperial family’s passport is almost the same as the general nations. The only different part from the general nation’s passport is that there is a column of “government official”, added to the first page of the passport. In the case of the price, “Naruhito”, the title, “CROWN OF PRINCE JAPAN”, is described on this column.

Passport production and visa acquisition are all left to accompanying chamberlains belonging to the Imperial Household Agency. the Imperial family members don’t take care of the requirements when going abroad for themselves.

How does his majesty meet with old school friends and holding a reunion?

In the youth of “Hirohito”, the Showa emperor (1901 ~ 1989), school friends were chosen from upper-class households, the Imperial families, and noble families, and the time for playing with those kids at the imperial palace was given limitedly.

The freedom to choose friends himself to play with were not given to the show emperor, “Hirohito”,

After WWⅡ, the imperial family members, given birth after the birth of his majesty, “Akihito”, can choose friends way more freely to play with. However, a person who is eligible for being invited to the imperial palace to meet one of the imperial members is limited to the one from the social standing of a family that is commensurate with the Imperial family.

His majesty goes out incognito to somewhere by himself?

Basically, it is strictly limited that not only his majesty but the Imperial family members go somewhere personally without permission.

Because police escort and protection service are inevitably needed in close cooperation between every police department and the imperial household agency when they go out of the Imperial Palace and the crown prince palace regardless of whether it is by personal reason or by official reason.

Meaning that his majesty goes somewhere out of the palace is that a big organization that supports his majesty moves together at the same time.

When the present emperor was a high school student, he went out to Ginza with his school friend by resisting the advice of a police officer accompanying him without being patient to such a suppressed situation.

Of those days, his majesty lived in a dorm house with chamberlains in the imperial palace. A newly arrived chamberlain, who felt pity for his majesty enclosed in such a suppressed space, gave him permission to go out of the palace by reason of having a tea with his friend at Mejiro, where Gakushuin university is located, which his majesty used to go to.

However, the place where his majesty went was Ginza. A police officer accompanying him realized where he tried to go and gave him the advice to go straight back to the palace but he pushed over the police’s advice and opposition and got on a train for Shimbashi and had some fun with his friend at Ginza.

His majesty entered a coffee shop to have some tea. Demanded police officers watched over his majesty for protection by pretending to be a customer there.

After this case, police security for the imperial family members was much more strengthened and personal outing ended up being strictly prohibited by the imperial household agency.

Is security of the crown prince’s palace excessive protection?

In 1985, after the prince, “Naruhito”, came back to Japan from 2-year studying abroad at Oxford University, he spoke the way of security for the palace in Japan was way more extreme than that of the royal family’s in England at the press conference.

He seemed to have been attracted to England royal family’s customs which is respected to the freedom of the individual royal family members in terms of the range of activities in the UK.

In Japan, the imperial palace police, belonging directly to the national police agency, is placed in the site of the Imperial Palace. The number of police officers of the Imperial palace police is about 1,000. Some of them in charge of bodyguarding, equivalent to special agent, accompany the imperial family members wherever they go.

Ability standards required to them are quite high. Body strength trained through the martial arts, polite behaviors to be taken correctly in front of the imperial family members, language ability to be able to speak the country’s language when going abroad with the imperial family’s members, are highly required to individual bodyguarding police.

In other words, the imperial family members are in an over-protective environment and taken care of everything by chamberlains. It is kind of rude thing to say, but they are really dependent under extreme care of the Japanese government, partly because of an aftereffect of WW2.

How do they get food from

The most part of foods used in the imperial family’s meals are got from the Imperial stock farm. Vegetables, meat, and dairy products are from the imperial stock farm.

Now, the Imperial stock farm is located in Tochigi prefecture, which mainly produces vegetables (carrot, burdock, onion, Japanese radish, sweet potatoes, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, Shiitake mushroom, bamboo shoot ) and meat (beef, pork, mutton, chicken), dairy products(milk, cream, cheese, butter, and yogurt)

Vegetables are perfectly pesticide-free. If there are bugs or insects on these foods, farmers pick and remove insects and bugs by hands from vegetables one by one.

Conclusion

This time, I referred to this book about the internal situation of the imperial family. Overall, imperial family members are a too dependent position, needing to get permission to do every single activity from the imperial household agency.

They pitifully need to deal with what is required to do by the imperial household agency without excuses in a straightforward manner. Their positions are really far from the activity of voluntary spokesman as the symbol of the Japanese nations.