Word: royals
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...reporting was made yet more difficult by the tradition of secrecy surrounding royal events. Tokyo reporter Hiroko Tashiro pored over stacks of clippings about previous royal matches for leads on shops and artisans -- never publicly identified -- that may be called on to provide such ceremonial artifacts as gowns and symbolic wedding swords. Nor did pictures for the story come easily. Directing our coverage, which involved a lot of waiting outside the Owada family home, was Tokyo photo editor Eiko Reed...
...says that cards do not deal the hand of fate? Owada seems to have the world at her feet. On June 9 she will marry Crown Prince Naruhito, who will be the next Emperor of Japan, the world's oldest monarchy. The Japanese royal family does not have private wealth like Britain's Queen Elizabeth, but the government takes splendid care of it. More important, the imperial family enjoys the nation's respect, unlike the beleaguered Windsors, who may be only a few tapes away from oblivion. As crown princess, Owada will deal with the world's most powerful...
...skills in a very effective way. If so, he will have to help make it happen. A truly enigmatic institution, the imperial household is secretive and, in general, tradition bound. Beyond its role in guarding the practice of religious rituals, nothing much is known about it. By comparison, European royal houses are open books...
Kuniko Inoguchi, a professor of international politics at Tokyo's Sophia University, believes the selection of Owada is an indication that the royal family wants to move forward. Its members are often seen as prisoners of the Imperial Household Agency, a 1,132-person bureaucracy that controls everything from rigid security to silver service to press interviews (almost none). It is hard for an outsider to adapt to such a sequestered life. Michiko, the present Empress, who married Emperor Akihito in 1959, is, like Owada, a commoner. She broke ground by insisting on certain innovations, such as raising her children...
Always popular, she has risen in stature through the years and has now passed the word that she will be Owada's ally. Says Inoguchi: "The royal family are guardians of tradition, but in wider choices, they go ahead. Michiko dared to bring up her own children. Naruhito is marrying a career woman." Poet Machi Tawara, who is Owada's contemporary, notes that she "chose her own timing. We can identify with that. There's a lot of talk about the crown prince saying 'I will put all my might in protecting you my entire life.' Some of my friends...