Women Bear Brunt Of Mental Health Woes In Japan Monarchy

The diagnosis of former princess Mako's post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prior to her controversial marriage in October has once again highlighted the intense pressure that women in the Japanese imperial family face, with some other members also plagued by mental health issues, Kyodo News reported.

Photo Insert: Princess Mako's PTSD has highlighted the intense pressure that women in the Japanese imperial family face.

The former princess, 30, who is a niece of Emperor Naruhito, came under massive public scrutiny after it became known that the family of her commoner husband Kei Komuro was involved in a financial dispute.

Her aunt Empress Masako, 58, has long been battling a stress-induced illness related to the pressure she was under to produce a male heir, while former Empress Michiko, 87, the emperor's mother, became unable to speak for months amid bashing by weekly magazines following her husband's accession to the throne in 1989.

Both the empress and the former empress were commoners before their marriages to then crown princes. Under Japan's 1947 Imperial House Law, women are not eligible to ascend the throne and female members of the imperial family leave the household upon marrying a commoner.

While the former princess and Komuro eventually married on Oct. 26, more than four years after their relationship was made public, traditional ceremonies associated with a royal marriage were not held due to public unease over the money row. "It is as if there are no human rights (within the imperial family)," said clinical psychologist Sayoko Nobuta.

The Imperial Household Agency revealed prior to the marriage that the former princess had been diagnosed with complex PTSD caused by what she described as psychological abuse the couple and their families received.

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