Tokyo Ever After: A Novel (Tokyo Ever After #1)(79)
For over two decades, rumors have swirled about the Crown Prince’s love life. An avid outdoorsman who enjoys skiing and mountaineering, he has had his fair share of high-profile romances, the most recent with Japanese British-born Hina Hirotomo, whose family can trace their lineage back to powerful daimyos and viscounts before the banishment of nobles in Japan. His love life is, and continues to be, of great concern to the Imperial Household Agency. There is pressure for Crown Prince Toshihito to provide a legitimate male heir. Though the imperial family recognizes Princess Izumi as a member, she is neither legitimate nor a male. Questions have arisen about the line of succession and altering the law to include women. Princess Izumi has a response to this, but more on that later.
At this point in the story, she’s found her father, or who she believes to be her father. “My friend is an excellent detective, and through her skills, she was able to track him down. She started with the Harvard registrar, but a regular old Google search ended up being how she found him.” Princess Izumi’s mother is a Harvard alumni and distinguished college professor of biology, but the princess doesn’t share her mother’s passion for science. “I am afraid I am aggressively average,” she shares enthusiastically.
“It was pretty obvious as soon as we saw the Crown Prince and my father’s photos. I have been told I resemble him.” She does. It’s in her nose and her high cheekbones. “My mother gave me the email of a mutual friend they shared in college. I drafted a short letter…” She shrugs. The rest is history. A week later, press had gotten hold of the story, and Princess Izumi was on her way to Japan. What happened next was a series of follies.
“My transition to Japan wasn’t seamless,” the Princess says unabashedly. “Far from it, actually.” Though she looked forward to reconnecting to Japan—she has a special fondness of dorayaki—the princess faced many hurdles. Chief among them was her decidedly American upbringing. “It felt like coming home but not at the same time. Growing up Japanese in the States wasn’t easy. I struggled with my identity living in a mostly white town. So when I came to Japan, my expectations were high and not exactly reasonable. I may never achieve the knowledge and cultural awareness as someone born here [Japan]. I am a foreigner, but also not a foreigner. It’s a bit of a paradox.” Adding to her difficulties is a distinct language barrier. Princess Izumi’s Japanese is improving, but when she first arrived, she had no grasp on the language at all. “After World War II [The Pacific War], my grandparents stopped speaking Japanese. They wanted to fully assimilate into America. They died before I was born. So much of my history was lost.”
Tabloids were merciless in exposing the Princess’s cultural faux pas. “It was hurtful to hear, but also useful. I am constantly learning, which means I will make more mistakes. All I ask is for people to be patient with me. I am working hard to be worthy of this institution and at the same time remain true to myself. It’s a delicate balance,” she says. “I am my mother and father’s daughter.”
Her biggest transgression was her relationship with imperial guard Akio Kobayashi. Leaked photos of them embracing and caught in a torrid kiss violated two norms—affection in public and a member of the imperial family dating far below her station. “Technically, the photographs were of private moments. I won’t deny they happened. But I also won’t go into any detail.” So, are the guard and the princess still an item? “While I agree most of my life is public and will play out in the media, I am committed to keeping some moments to myself, in particular those regarding my love life, at least until I am ready to share. But I would like to apologize to Mr. Kobayashi and his family. It was never my intention for the press to find out, and I am sorry for any harm it caused. In addition, I’d like to set the record straight. The tabloids painted Mr. Kobayashi in a very bad light. The relationship progressed evenly on both sides. I was not taken advantage of. For a while, we made each other very happy.” Her voice is wistful—the tone of someone who has loved and lost.
One person the princess doesn’t speak much about is her mother, Hanako Tanaka. “My mother is very private,” she says. “But I will tell you she is a wonderful parent—compassionate, kind, and giving.” On a possible reconciliation between the Crown Prince and her mother, the princess stays silent, directing the conversation to the topic of her first meeting with the emperor and empress. “I was very nervous,” she admits. “But honored at the same time. We made small talk at first and I think that was their way of putting me at ease.”
When asked if the emperor and empress disapproved of their son’s affair and child, imperial royal biographer and winner of the Osaragi Jiro Prize for his book, Emperor Takehito: The Man and His People, Terry Newman, said, “The empress is known for a desire to be progressive on women’s issues, including children born out of wedlock, something frowned upon until the last three decades. She is also open-minded, having grown up in a similar situation to her new granddaughter. The empress was born in a poor village and didn’t know a thing about court life until she accidentally met the then–Crown Prince at university. She was there on a scholarship. More than anything, the emperor and empress are extremely family-oriented. They made headlines when they decided to break tradition and raise their children in their own home. Admittedly, the stakes are a bit lower for the princess. If she’d been male, then there would be more concern on whether he could inherit the throne as an illegitimate child.”