Japan’s monarchy tremors

IHT: Japan’s crown prince complains his wife is stifled by the Imperial Household

Before leaving Japan for a 12-day European tour, Crown Prince Naruhito made an unusual public outburst, telling reporters, essentially, that his Harvard-educated wife was a prisoner of the palace. Princess Masako, once an outgoing diplomat, had been reduced to a depressed recluse by court bureaucrats obsessed with obtaining a male heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne.

I don’t know how many times this has been brought up in psychological literature. The entire chronicle seems all too obvious.
For most people, me included, it is still a tad incomprehensible why she chose that life in favor of her career. I guess that once sociological pressure is applied and you make the slightest effort to fit in, you are walking a razor’s edge. She probably though that it was only her career that was going down the drain. Lesson to be learned: Read the fine print and never underestimate the power of cultural influence and tradition. Be wary.

Not that we haven’t had our fair share of royal silliness here in Europe over the last week. People do enjoy a good spectacle, don’t they.