Japan's crown prince, who turned 48 yesterday, said his wife needs more time to recover from an stress-induced illness before she can return to official duties.
Naruhito, heir to the world's oldest monarchy, said Crown Princess Masako was making progress, but not quite ready to fully resume her duties and public appearances.
Masako, 44, withdrew from most imperial functions at the end of 2003 after developing a condition her palace doctors call "adjustment disorder."
"Masako, with her conditions, still has ups and downs, [but she] is making efforts to expand her activities, both publicly and privately," the crown prince said at a news conference, a transcript of which was released yesterday.
"I would like to ask for your continued patience and understanding," Naruhito said. "Masako is helping me in many ways and I want to continue giving her firm support," he said.
Masako, a former diplomat educated at Harvard and Oxford, came under immediate pressure to produce a male heir for the monarchy after her marriage to Naruhito in 1993, but suffered a miscarriage six years later.
She gave birth to a daughter, Aiko, in 2001, but females are prohibited from taking the throne.
Naruhito visited his parents' palace later yesterday to mark his birthday.
Naruhito promised he would visit his parents more after a senior palace official rebuked him for not spending enough time with them.
The head of Japan's Imperial Household Agency Shingo Haketa earlier this month in a rare public signal said that Naruhito should visit Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko more frequently.
The emperor, 74, complained in 2006 that he and his wife didn't have enough opportunities to meet Naruhito's only child, Princess Aiko, now six.
But at a press conference before his birthday Naruhito said: "I would like to commit as much as I can to visiting the Imperial Palace" where Akihito and Michiko live.
He didn't elaborate, saying that it was "a private family matter."
According to the Kyodo News agency on Feb. 13, the imperial official said: "I think the emperor and empress are concerned as the number of visits [by the crown prince's family] to the Imperial Palace has not increased."
He added that he had given advice to Naruhito on several occasions, to which he said the Crown Prince responded: "I'd like to make an effort."
The prince has recently come under fire in tabloid magazines for shunning official duties while dining with friends and family.
MINERAL DEPOSITS: The Pacific nation is looking for new foreign partners after its agreement with Canada’s Metals Co was terminated ‘mutually’ at the end of last year Pacific nation Kiribati says it is exploring a deep-sea mining partnership with China, dangling access to a vast patch of Pacific Ocean harboring coveted metals and minerals. Beijing has been ramping up efforts to court Pacific nations sitting on lucrative seafloor deposits of cobalt, nickel and copper — recently inking a cooperation deal with Cook Islands. Kiribati opened discussions with Chinese Ambassador Zhou Limin (周立民) after a longstanding agreement with leading deep-sea mining outfit The Metals Co fell through. “The talk provides an exciting opportunity to explore potential collaboration for the sustainable exploration of the deep-ocean resources in Kiribati,” the government said
The head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, was sacked yesterday, days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he no longer trusts him, and fallout from a report on the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. “The Government unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to end ISA Director Ronen Bar’s term of office,” a statement said. He is to leave his post when his successor is appointed by April 10 at the latest, the statement said. Netanyahu on Sunday cited an “ongoing lack of trust” as the reason for moving to dismiss Bar, who joined the agency in 1993. Bar, meant to
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
The central Dutch city of Utrecht has installed a “fish doorbell” on a river lock that lets viewers of an online livestream alert authorities to fish being held up as they make their springtime migration to shallow spawning grounds. The idea is simple: An underwater camera at Utrecht’s Weerdsluis lock sends live footage to a Web site. When somebody watching the site sees a fish, they can click a button that sends a screenshot to organizers. When they see enough fish, they alert a water worker who opens the lock to let the fish swim through. Now in its fifth year, the
RSS