Crown Prince Akishino
Japan's Crown Prince Akishino was proclaimed to the public on 08 November 2020 as heir to the Imperial throne. It was the last in a series of ceremonies associated with the succession of the throne. The Prince, whose given name is Fumihito, became first in the line of succession in May 2019. That was when his older brother, Emperor Naruhito, ascended the throne after their father's abdication.
Naruhito's succession left only two younger males in line for the throne, 53-year-old Akishino and his 12-year-old son, Hisahito. Naruhito's 17-year-old daughter, Aiko, and Akishino's daughters Mako and Kako are not in line to the throne because they are women. And they are expected to lose royal status when they each marry a commoner.
He graduated from the Department of Political Studies in the Faculty of Law of Gakushuin University in 1988. Akishino’s request to study in the UK was initially turned down by the Imperial Household Agency. From 1988 through 1990 he studied abroad at the Graduate School of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK. In 1996 he was granted a Ph.D. from The Graduate University for Advanced Studies.
Prince Akishino, the second son of His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus, was born on November 30, 1965 in Tokyo, Japan as Prince Fumihito. He has been married to Princess Akishino, She is the second commoner to marry into the imperial family (her mother-in-law, the Empress, was the first). The couple’s first daughter Princess Mako, 29, was born in October 1991, and their second, Princess Kako, 25, was born in December 1994. In September 2006, Prince Hisahito was born, becoming the imperial family’s first boy and first heir to the chrysanthemum throne born in 41 years.
On the occasion of his 52nd birthday in 2017, he said, “Of course, I think what (people) seek from us changes depending on the times. I think we need to always keep that in my mind.” He made the comments after a law was enacted to allow former Emperor Akihito, 86, the father of the emperor and crown prince, to abdicate.
Akishino courted controversy in June 2019 by ignoring royal protocol to discuss his oldest daughter’s marriage plans and the workload of the imperial family. Media opportunities involving the Imperial Household Agency are tightly choreographed and usually produce little more than niceties. Asked about the planned marriage of his daughter, Princess Mako, to her commoner fiancé, Kei Komuro, the prince replied: “I have not heard from my daughter about it, so I do not know how things are at this stage and what she thinks about it.” The Imperial Household Agency in February 2018 that the couple was postponing the wedding until 2020, following a string of reports that Komuro’s mother was involved in a dispute with her former fiance over money, including her son’s educational costs, which the man shouldered. The crown prince said the engagement ritual cannot be held unless the couple gains support and understanding from the public,
He said that the retirement from public life of the emeritus emperor and empress left too few royals to carry out official duties. “Those who are building international goodwill are decreasing, but in a way there is nothing we can do,” the prince told local media. “I think those among us who are able can only do so much. We can engage in broader activities if there are more people in the next generation but if you look at the current situation, I believe it is necessary to examine what to do.”
The ceremony to proclaim him Crown Prince was originally scheduled for April of this year. But it was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The ceremony was attended by adult members of the Imperial Family and the heads of the three branches of government.
Emperor Naruhito said, " I hereby hold the Ceremony for Proclamation of the Crown Prince and as provided by the Imperial House Law, broadly proclaim to the people in Japan and the world that Prince Fumihito is the Crown Prince."
The Crown Prince then expressed his resolve to fulfill his duties. Crown Prince Akishino said, "I am truly humbled to be granted the occasion of the Ceremony for Proclamation of the Crown Prince. I extend my deep thoughts to the responsibility as Crown Prince as I continue to fulfill my duties."
Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide delivered a congratulatory speech on behalf of the attendees. Suga said, " Together with Her Imperial Highness the Crown Princess, His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince has long assisted Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress and Their Majesties the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Emerita and has earnestly carried out activities of the Imperial Family, such as visiting disaster-hit areas and promoting international goodwill. Through those activities, the people of Japan respect and revere Their Imperial Highnesses and how they engage closely with people. It is to our great delight that the Ceremony for Proclamation of Crown Prince is hereby held."
Due to the pandemic, the guest list was shortened. Some events were canceled, including a banquet, a ceremonial motorcade, and a chance for the public to sign their names in a book of well wishes.
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