Former Princess of Japan married a commoner and now works at the Metropolitan Museum in New York



Mako y Kei Komuro


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Mako y Kei Komuro

Mako is the niece of the current Emperor of Japan, Naruhito, and the older sister of Prince Hisahito, second in line to the throne.

Last year Mako was in the eye of the hurricane, not only in the Japanese media, but also in the world media, announcing that she would give up her royal privileges to marry lawyer Kei Komuro, her boyfriend since college. The women of the imperial family always lose their noble titles by marrying “commoners”, the same does not happen with men.

In October of last year Mako married Kei Komuro in a very discreet ceremony, they practically only signed their signatures in the civil registry. Mako was still recovering from a post traumatic disorder due to all the problems he faced to be able to join the love of his life.






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The couple got engaged in 2017, but managed to marry four years later, but not before resolving financial problems at Kei Komuro’s house. His mother was accused of diverting funds: she owed her ex-partner $36,000, which she used to pay for Mako’s now-husband’s law degree.

Mako also rejected the economic aid of 150 million yen (about a million dollars), which the Japanese government grants to the women of the Imperial House. who give up their status in order to marry a commoner.

The former Princess was practically banished from Japan, not only had she ceased to be part of the royal family, she also received criticism and rejection from the media in her country and the people who demonstrated on the day of the wedding expressing that they did not consider Kei Komuro worthy of Mako.






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a new life

A month after the wedding, Mako and Kei decided to move to New York, he makes his way into the world of law, while Mako, 30, has just signed up as a volunteer for the think tank at the Metropolitan Museum of New York. York (MET) to prepare a new collection of Asian art, it is a series of paintings inspired by the life of a 13th-century monk who traveled throughout Japan to introduce Buddhism. And although he will not receive any financial remuneration in return, he will be able to begin to interact in the medium for which he has prepared so much: art.






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Mako studied at Tokyo International Christian University, where he met Kei Komuro. She earned a BA in Art and Cultural Heritage, after which she studied Art History at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and an MA in Museum and Art Gallery Studies in 2016 at the University of Leicester. She also worked as a researcher at the Tokyo University Museum.

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