The uber conservative Japanese Royal household announced that "Princess Masako was receiving therapy for depression and anxiety".
Is there any lesson -- practical and symbolic -- for the Nepali Royal household in this?
I can't help but wondering.
oohi
ashu
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August 7, 2004
A Princess's Distress Pierces Japan's Veil of Secrecy
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
OKYO, Aug. 6 - When the Imperial Household Agency announced last week that Princess Masako was receiving therapy for depression and anxiety, it was the first time in the long, long history of Japan's monarchy that there was royal recognition of something most take for granted: personal happiness.
Until then, the issue of personal happiness or unhappiness had never been officially broached, irrelevant as it was in a mind-set that placed the survival of the Chrysanthemum Throne above everything else.
In keeping with that thinking, enormous, ultimately unbearable pressure was applied on Princess Masako, a Harvard- and Oxford-educated woman who had been destined for a brilliant career in diplomacy, to do one thing and one thing alone: bear a suitable male heir.
After Princess Masako disappeared from the public eye eight months ago, the Imperial Household Agency steadfastly denied that anything was seriously wrong. Then last week it put its imprimatur on a statement that the princess was suffering from a stress-induced adjustment disorder and, in addition to counseling, was taking prescription drugs.
To many court watchers, recent actions by Crown Prince Naruhito portend changes that will occur when the Heisei Era of Emperor Akihito gives way to the as yet unnamed age of the future emperor, Princess Masako's husband.
The prince, 44, who is expected soon to begin assuming many of the public duties performed by his 70-year-old father, signaled how things might change in a speech in May that especially after the Imperial Household Agency's announcement last week, is being recognized as historic.
"Essentially, the crown prince put more importance on individual happiness than on the imperial system,' said Takeshi Hara, a professor specializing in the monarchy at Gakushuin University here.
Akihito's choice of a commoner as a bride was revolutionary in a monarchy in which his grandfather, Emperor Hirohito, had been considered a living god by some Japanese. But the prince's choice of Masako Owada was equally revolutionary. He was choosing a type of bride many Japanese men avoid even to this day: a woman with a full-fledged career, someone who was better educated, more accomplished and even taller than he was.
After declining the prince's marriage proposal for several years, Masako finally accepted 11 years ago, but only after eliciting his promise to protect her. At the time, many ordinary Japanese, especially young women, while impressed at the prince's choice for a bride, expressed regret that such a modern woman would disappear into the closed world of the monarchy.
In news clips that television networks have been running endlessly since May, she first appears as a young diplomat speaking quickly, with clarity and self-assuredness written all over her face. As princess, she speaks softly and slowly, often with an uncertain or forced smile. In the last, haunting image of her, after she withdrew from public view, she is seen riding in the back of a car, her face drained of all expression.
In 2001, Princess Masako gave birth to a girl, Aiko, who according to law cannot ascend the throne. There was renewed pressure to bear a boy.
It was not clear what caused the princess to sink into her present depression eight months ago. But it became severe enough for her to take the unheard-of step of leaving the Tokyo palace and staying for one month at her parents' country villa in Karuizawa, 90 miles northwest of Tokyo. During that time the prince reportedly visited twice, for a total of nine days, and stayed at a hotel except for a couple of nights, prompting some court watchers to worry about the possibility of a divorce.
The Imperial Household Agency, which had ignored her depression, could no longer do so after the prince's comments in May.
To keep ignoring the issue would have harmed the monarchy. So in keeping with the changing times, acknowledging her personal unhappiness has become a way to secure the throne. The Imperial Household Agency said it was considering changing her official duties, thus acknowledging her pain.
"They wanted to avoid having support for the imperial system crumble,' Mr. Hara said. "They wanted to avoid a worst-case scenario in which the Japanese people start questioning whether they want a system that destroys personal happiness. So they issued a message that's as positive as possible. They're trying to maintain the people's support.'
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/07/international/asia/07japa.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position=
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