Society

Prince Hisahito of Japan accused of plagiarism in award-winning essay

Feb 22 (royalcentral.co.uk) - Prince Hisahito of Japan has been accused of plagiarism in an essay that had made headlines because of the award it brought to its author.

The Japanese Imperial Household responded the following day with a press release saying that “the description of [the Prince’s] reference list was inadequate” and that Hisahito would review said list to check if more sources needed to be added, aside from the one pointed out by the magazine.

The essay in question was about the Ogasawara Islands and was based on memories of a trip the Prince took to the place with his mother, Princess Kiko when he was a child.

The essay even brought him a prize, which he received in a virtual ceremony in March 2021. The school he attended at the time, Ochanomizu University Junior High School, took part in the Kita-Kyushu’s 12th Children’s Nonfiction Literature Award.

The Prince’s essay took second place and was selected for the honour among 97 other writings. Kita-Kyushu is a city in the Fukuoka Prefecture of Japan, and every year is responsible for awarding the prizes.

On 15 February, the Imperial Household was approached by The Asahi Shimbun, a magazine devoted to Asian and Japanese topics, concerning the fact that certain parts of the essay “ very closely resembled a source that was not mentioned,” according to the filing. ...continue reading

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