Every Family has Its Spats

Las

t year may go down as the one in which the Japanese imperial family finally caught up with the Windsors in the dysfunction department. The saga began last May when Crown Prince Naruhito told reporters at a press conference that his wife, Masako, who has withdrawn from public life since December 2003, was suffering from exhaustion due to "acts" that denied the princess her career, her individuality and even trips abroad. (Masako was a career diplomat before she married Naruhito.) The crown prince said: "From what I have seen, she seems completely exhausted."

Naruhito's comments were unprecedented in severity and directness, and they set off a flurry of speculation about who was making Masako so miserable. (Which was only fueled by a later announcement by the Imperial Household Agency that the unhappy princess had been diagnosed with an "adjustment disorder.") The favorite target of the press was the agency, the secretive bureaucracy that micromanages the Japanese royals, which is allegedly concerned that the 41-year-old Masako has given birth only to a daughter, Princess Aiko, who cannot succeed to the throne. The agency has gone so far as to request Emperor Akihito's second son, Prince Fumihito, to have a third child. (Fumihito is the father of two girls.)

Fast-forward to November, when Fumihito showed imperial blood isn't much thicker than water when he announced at his 39th birthday press conference that his big brother's remarks in May had taken both himself and the Emperor by surprise. Fumihito deemed it "unfortunate" that his brother and father didn't have a heart-to-heart beforehand, and went on to add that he considered official duties "passive by nature."

Emperor Akihito joined the fray in a written statement issued on his 71st birthday on Dec. 23. The Emperor wrote of the crown prince's complaints: "... there are still some things that I have not fully understood yet." As for the inherent nature of official duties, Akihito requested that the future Emperor specifically indicate what he has in mind, "or at least indicate a direction for them, and in so doing gain the cooperation of those around him." Amid this extraordinary show of public bickering, the government last month announced its decision to create an advisory board to begin considering a change in Japanese law to allow princesses to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne. With battles in the royal family, 2005 could be one of the best ever for Japanese tabloids.