It has been proved that (sometimes) the princess, who is showing up in our dreams, exists in this world.
Recently, Japanese Princess Mako got engaged with Kei Komuro, a commoner and her former classmate at Tokyo’s International Christian University. As Komuro is not an actual prince, the princess has decided to give up her royal status in order to marry him.
Princes Mako said that she is happy to love Komuro, who works as a paralegal at a law firm. She also said that Komuro’s family background never bothered her. “I love Komuro and want to spend my life with him happily,” stressed the princess.
Although women cannot inherit Japan’s Chrysanthemum Throne and Princess Mako has never been part of the order of succession, she will have to give up her royal status after tying knot with Komuro as per the Japanese ‘royal’ tradition. Princess Mako’s father, Prince Akishino, is the brother of Crown Prince Naruhito and currently second in line to the throne as Prince Naruhito has only one daughter. Princess Mako’s younger brother Prince Hisahito is third in the order of succession.

Princess Mako with Kei Komuro

Surprisingly, there is a different rule for the princes in Japan. Even if a Japanese prince ties knot with a common girl, the girl enjoys all the rights and privileges of the royal family from day one. Not only Japan, but many countries in the world follow this rule. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently said that the rules of the royal family are absolute. Such a statement is very much expected, as Abe is the PM of a patriarchal state. So, it isn’t possible for him to express a different view. It is also noticeable that girls have the responsibility to follow all the rules in every society. Usually, men don’t have that responsibility. Even if a man breaks the rule, the society doesn’t bother.
In every society, the majority of rules have been created especially for girls. And whenever girls try to get rid of those rules, they face troubles. But, girls also have the (courage and) responsibility of breaking those rules. In fact, they don’t have other options. For girls, it is important to fight against the world in order to establish their dignity. They have to ‘win’ their rights.
Men live on a single condition – masculinity. But, girls live on the condition of life. They have to ‘enjoy’ the taste of patriarchalism (or patriarchy) everyday. Probably, that’s why only girls can create fairy tales. There are so many examples. In Afghanistan, the young girls are playing football in an attempt to ‘enjoy freedom’. For many years, girls were not permitted to play outdoor games in the war-ravaged South Asian country. They were banned from playing under the former Taliban government and one of the banned sports was football. However, the rise of a national women’s football team is a sign of change in the country. Similarly, teenage girls in India have started telling their parents that they don’t want to marry, but to continue studies.

Afghan Players

Princess Mako is the girl who wants to create a fairy tale. That’s why she has decided to sacrifice her royal status and to follow her heart. Hope, the ‘ordinary’ couple will be able to live a ‘happy’ life.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das