Noble Blood - The Princess and the Commoner

Episode Date: August 6, 2024

In 2021, Princess Mako of Japan made headlines for giving up her royal title in order to marry a commoner. On the surface, it sounds like a picture-perfect love story. But the truth of their courtship, and the rules around the imperial family in Japan, are anything but simple. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Noble Blood merch — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school.

Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? They hit a bogo. Well, then you got it. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of IHeart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. It's an age-old trope, a royal and a commoner falling in love. It all started, of course, at least if you were a Disney kid like me, with Cinderella, a tale who's actually oldest known version, dates back to the late 1st century BC, when the Greek historian Strabo recorded the tale of Rodopus, an enslaved girl who married the king of Egypt. Then there are the countless versions of Cinderella across cultures, and plenty of stories with different takes on the commoner royal formula. The Princess Bride, Roman Holiday, the one where Julia Stiles goes to college with the Prince of Denmark. It's a trope that has sold countless romance novels and earns the

Hallmark Channel a significant chunk of their Christmas season profit. Because of the nature of the trope, many of these stories share a central conflict. Do you choose love or do you choose duty? For Princess Mako of Akashino, now known simply as Mako Kumuro, the choice was clear. Quote, For me, Kai is irreplaceable, Mako told the press of her now husband. Marriage was a necessary choice to be able to protect our hearts in a cherishing way. We, the two of us, will start our new life. If Mako and Kay's story is ringing any bells, you might have seen pictures of them out and about in their new home of New York City, usually paired with actual tabloid headlines like, quote,

Japan's Princess Mako shops for towels at bed, bath, and beyond, and then gets lost on her way home to Hell's Kitchen on week after arriving in New York City to start a new life with her commoner husband. Or, quote, former Japanese Princess Mako Kumuru looks loved up as she strolls hand in hand with commoner husband in New York City after he failed bar exam for second time. Or maybe even, quote, Princess Mako goes shopping at Amish Market in New York as she's pictured for first time since her commoner husband finally passed the bar exam on his third attempt.

Mako chose Kai, yes, even with all those failed bar attempts, but the reality of life in the Japanese royal family meant that choosing a commoner wasn't really much of a choice at all. There was no path for Mako to become empress with or without marriage. Women cannot inherit Japan's chrysanthemum throne, and the country hasn't had an empress since 1771. On top of that, because Japan no longer has nobility, all royals technically marry commoners, but where a son's wife would be elevated to his royal status, a daughter will be demoted to her husband's commoner status. Mako's marriage would go on to ignite a debate about feminism in Japan, about imperial succession, and about royal customs. At the same time, she would face such intense backlash and scrutiny

that she would later announce a diagnosis with C-P-T-SD. But ultimately, This episode is a love story. I love Mako, Kay told the press. We only get one life and I want us to spend it with the one we love. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood. Mako Kumoro was born Princess Mako of Akashino on October 23, 1991. Her father is Fumahito, Prince Akashino, the younger brother and heir presumptive, of the Emperor of Japan.

And Mako's mother is Kiko, Princess Akashino, a former academic with no imperial ties. Before we get further into Mako's life, we have to understand how succession works in Japan. The line of succession is currently governed by the Imperial Household Law of 1947, enacted under post-World War II American occupation during the reign of Emperor Hirohito, Mako's great-grandfather.

The new law had dramatic effects, cutting ties with 11 out of 12 branches of the imperial family and reducing the royal family to the emperor's immediate family and the families of his brothers. This separation was intended to block the potential of using another branch of the family to revive the militarism that led to World War II. These, quote, parallel lineages, functioning as the nobility and aristocracy,

historically existed to offer male successors to the throne, in the case the main line could not produce an heir, while also serving as a marriage pool for imperial princesses. The 1947 law also stated that only a major, child descended from a male emperor could ascend the throne, and imperial princesses must leave the royal family upon their marriage to a commoner. The first princess to actually see the consequences of that law was actually Hirohito's own daughter, Kazuuko, who became the first member of the imperial family to marry a commoner in 1950. But again, she didn't have a choice. Three,

short years earlier, her husband had been considered a prince and a nobleman. Before Mako, the most recent princess to have left the royal family was her aunt, Siaco, in 2005. She married a town planner, and she now holds a position as a high priestess. The BBC reported that upon leaving the royal family with her new husband, she had to learn how to drive, shop in a supermarket, and buy furniture. Maka was only 14 years old at that time, and while she knew that she would one day have to give up her title if she chose to marry, those worries could wait. She grew up with her younger sister, Princess Kako, and later her younger brother, Prince Hishato, born when she was 15. She attended Gakushin School, originally designed

solely to educate the imperial children and children of aristocracy for her primary through high school years. The Japanese public knew and saw very little of the princess during that time, with images of her being released only through official palace channels. That changed in 2004, when she was 13 images of Mako in her Sailor Fuku, the iconic Japanese girls' school uniform, best known to Western audiences through anime like Sailor Moon, appeared on television. A video featuring fan art of the princess in her uniform was uploaded on the Tokyo-based video sharing website Niko Niko Duga and attracted over a quarter of a million views and 86,000 comments. When asked for their comments, the somewhat befuddled imperial household agency

said they were unsure how to respond as the video, quote, did not seem to be derogatory towards either the princess or the imperial family. A very modern princess story. In 2011, Mako came of age when she turned 20 and began attending official events as an adult member of the royal family.

She had already privately been working as a volunteer in areas affected by the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami, going so far as to use a nickname to hide her true identity, although some people still recognized her. During this time, she also began studying liberal arts at Tokyo's International Christian University, and she studied abroad for a semester in Dublin. When the palace announced her intentions, a spokesman was apparently asked, if she would be allowed to go out with Irish boys. Quote, that's not the sort of irresponsible question I can answer,

he replied curtly. Her time in Ireland was clearly inspiring. She went on to study abroad for another semester at the University of Edinburgh, and after graduating from the International Christian University in 2014, with her degree in art and cultural heritage, she went on to receive her master's in art museum and gallery studies from the University of Leicester. She put her degree to use when she took a position as a project researcher at the University of Tokyo's

University Museum in 2016. It was during her time at university that she met her future husband, Kayakamuru. They were both students at the Christian University, but they met attending a study abroad event at a Tokyo restaurant. Kay was by all means a normal student with no royal ties, unless you count his title as, quote, Prince of the Sea, a role he once played in a tourism campaign for the city of Fujisawa.

The couple has kept the details of their courtship private, but we know the Sea Prince proposed over dinner in 2013, and then the couple maintained the relationship long distance, while Mako was in the UK. The engagement wouldn't be formally announced until Mako returned and settled back into life in Japan in 2017. Quote, I've been aware since my childhood

that I would lose royal status once I married, Mako said at a press conference. While I've worked to help the emperor and fulfill duties as a royal family member as much as I can, I've been cherishing my own life. At 25, this meant Mako was only a, quote, official working member of the royal family for five years. With the emperor's approval, the princess introduced the country to her future husband,

a 25-year-old law firm employee with no historic royal ties. She told the world that she first fell for his, quote, smile like the sun. He told them she watched over him quietly. quote, like the moon. They planned to be married the next year. The public response was initially positive, supportive of the princess and her love story. But as we all know, that can change on a dime. The engagement of Makko and Kay was doomed to be plagued by concerns and scandals that didn't actually involve the couple as individuals. The announcement that Mako would be leaving the royal family, reignited the now decades-old debate as to whether or not royal women

should be allowed to retain their royal status upon marriage and even potentially gain positions in the line of succession. At the time of Miko's announcement, a poll from Kyoto News showed that 86% of those surveyed said they were in favor of allowing a female to reign, and about two-thirds, said that sons or daughters born of royal women should also be allowed to ascend to the throne. Still, for those in disagreement, the royal family is one of the last remaining embodiments of tradition in Japan, and any change within it is highly feared. The debate was especially heated because at the same time Emperor Akehito had given Mako and Ke his blessing, the Japanese government was considering his request to abdicate. There was no legal precedent for

him to do so, and so he publicly asked Parliament to amend the laws so he could pass the title onto his eldest son. That law was passed, and in 2019, Mako's uncle Narohito ascended to the throne. There's a practical argument for letting women remain in the royal family and or reign themselves. The line of succession is incredibly short. The current line of succession is Mako's uncle, then Mako's father, and then Prince Hisahito, her 17-year-old younger brother. That's it. Three people. It's clear that the monarchy is not sustainable with the current laws of.

of succession, but the debate as to how the problem will be solved rages on. The other public scandal was centered around Kay's mother, as one would expect the Japanese press dug into his background, particularly his family. Less than a year after the engagement was announced, tabloids reported that his mother, a widow who raised him by herself, had borrowed four million yen, about $36,000, from an ex-boyfriend and never paid it back. Part of the money was reported to have paid for her son's schooling. Though Kay himself had nothing to do with this, that didn't matter in the eyes of the public in a culture that puts a lot of weight on family.

He was no longer considered princely. He was a gold digger, looking to use Mako in the Royal Fulay. family for their wealth, never mind the fact that by marrying him, she would be leaving the royal family who are not independently wealthy. It was such an uproar that the wedding was delayed. Miko told the press, quote, I wish to think about marriage more deeply and concretely. Shortly after that, in the summer of 2018, Fordham Law announced that Kay would be attending their school in the fall on a full-ride merit scholarship. some speculated that he was being sent away or that he had somehow manipulated his way into the scholarship.

In a news conference that same year, Meiko's father, crown prince Akashino, said he, quote, respected the desire of the couple to wed, but that an official ceremony would not take place unless the public approved. In 2020, at Akashino's urging, Kay released a 28-8-1stableness. page document explaining his mother's loan, and his lawyer later vowed that Mr. Camaro would pay it back. That didn't do much to change public opinion of him. Things actually worsened when photos of him appeared in New York with, God forbid, a ponytail. He was torn to shreds on social media, with many believing the look was unkempt and unbecoming of a princess's future. your husband. The engagement would remain in limbo for years. The emperor and empress shared that the

public would, quote, wait for Princess Meko to make her own decisions. It wasn't until 2021 that the public finally learned what that decision was. Miko and Kaye were still very much together, and they would finally be married. The lead of the New York Times article announcing they were finally to be wed, read, quote, anyone who dreams of being a princess should probably have a chat with Princess Meiko of Japan. Normally, a princess leaving the royal family is entitled to official ceremonies, marking her departure,

and a dowry of about $1.4 million yen to start her new life. Miko turned it all down. It made her the first female member of the royal family to refuse a dowry post-World War II. In announcing why there wouldn't be a royal wedding, the Imperial Household Agency explained it was, quote, because their marriage is not celebrated by many people. At the same time, it was also announced that the princess had been diagnosed with complex

post-traumatic stress disorder due to the public scrutiny. Quote, she felt like her dignity as a human being. being had been trampled on, her psychiatrist said in a news conference. She thinks of herself as somebody without value. Mako's C-P-T-SD is part of a sad history of women in the Japanese royal family, developing mental health struggles. In the 1960s, Empress Machiko lost the ability to speak for seven months and continue to suffer from nervous breakdowns, mouth ulcers, nosebleeds, and, and, and, and more physical complications due to the pressure of her position.

Her daughter-in-law, the current Empress Masako, retreated from public events for a period of time, beginning in 2004 after facing intense scrutiny for failing to produce a male heir. She had previously suffered a miscarriage. Dr. Kristen Roebuck, an assistant professor at Cornell, and historian of modern Japan, explained this unique crisis to the cut. Quote, whether you're marrying into the royal family, like the current

empress did, or you're marrying out of the royal family, like the former Princess Mako did, it's always understood in Japan that the women are a temporary part of the royal family, and so they just don't get the same respect. And quote, it's a complex task to discuss Japanese gender politics, and it's not something we can give enough time to today, but Western listeners might see parallels between Miko's story and Megan Markles. Intense, often singularly vicious, scrutiny of women entering or leaving the royal family is not unique to any one culture. The idea of a royal family and everything it stands for has always been threatened by a woman who refuses to conform to and comply with, the pressures of both the family and the public, and every

tradition and standard that the royal family stands for. On October 26, 2021, Meiko and Kay simply registered their marriage in Tokyo and held a press conference afterward. Then, Meko began the process of obtaining her first passport so the couple could move to New York. The couple now live in a one-bedroom apartment in the Hells Kitchen neighborhood. Kay eventually passed the bar exam on his third try and is now an associate at a New York firm. As of April 2022, Meiko was working as a volunteer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, assisting curators in the Asian Art Department. If being an unpaid intern isn't the New York City experience, I don't know what is. The most recent photos of the couple are paparazzi shots from 2023 of the pair riding the bus together, his arm around her shoulder.

That's the story of the Princess of Japan marrying a commoner, but keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear a slightly more dramatic story that happened to another female member of the Japanese royal family. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely, on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall

and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Wodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up-and-coming talent.

He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar. of, you know, the cat just hang in there.

Yeah, it would not be... Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Meiko was not the first former Japanese princess to move to the United States after marriage. Takako Shimazu, the youngest daughter of Emperor Hirohito, was once known as Princess Suga. but her marriage to a banker led to her spending two years in an apartment in Washington, D.C. When she returned to Japan, she faced criticism for taking a position as a consultant at an exclusive store in Tokyo,

making her the first member of the imperial family to hold a commercial job. Those who criticized her life for being too ordinary may have been forgetting one extraordinary, incident. Before Takako left for Washington, she narrowly escaped a kidnapping attempt by six men. Posing as bill collectors, they attempted to gain entry to her home, which they knew the location of thanks to extensive media coverage. And unlike Mako, they knew Takako had not turned down the dowry princesses are entitled to upon leaving the royal family. The plan was, not foiled by a sting operation or a vigilante swooping in, but rather one of the potential kidnappers himself, who tipped off the press that there was a plan to kidnap the princess. A judge ultimately

ruled that their plan didn't get far enough to constitute an attempted kidnapping, but the men were arrested for trespassing and illegal possession of weapons and sentenced to prison for terms ranging from eight months to three years. No one said being a princess or even a former princess was easy. Noble Blood is a production of IHeart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Menke. Noble Blood is hosted by me, Danish forts, with additional writing and researching by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Courtney Sender, Julia Melani and Armand Kasam. The show is edited and produced by Noami Griffin and Rima Il K. Ali with supervising producer Josh Thane and executive producers Aaron Manke, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.

For more podcasts from IHeart Radio, visit the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely.

A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got them.

Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Thank you.