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Crown Prince Akishino urges daughter to update Japanese public on marriage amid lingering questions

Dec 01, 2019 | News On Japan

Dec 01, 2019 (Japan Times) - Crown Prince Akishino, the younger brother of Emperor Naruhito, has urged his daughter Princess Mako to update the public on her planned marriage to boyfriend Kei Komuro by February.

“This coming February marks two years” since the postponement announcement, the crown prince said at a news conference ahead of his 54th birthday Saturday. “I believe something must be announced about it.”

The crown prince’s eldest daughter and Komuro announced their planned engagement in September 2017 and said their wedding would take place on Nov. 4, 2018.

But the Imperial Household Agency said in February 2018 that the couple would delay their marriage until 2020, following a string of reports that Komuro’s mother is involved in a dispute over money, including her son’s educational expenses, which her former fiance shouldered.

Princess Mako, 28, said at that time through the agency she “came to recognize the lack of time to make sufficient preparations.” Komuro, a paralegal at a Tokyo law firm, has been studying at Fordham University’s law school in New York since August last year, aiming to pass the state’s bar exam.

Last year, the prince urged Komuro’s family to resolve outstanding issues if they want the wedding to go ahead, saying their marriage should be something that is “celebrated by many people.”

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