Thanks very much for the welcome and the flowers .The main thing is to make a noise about it whether it is the done thing or not and if the maltreatment doesn't stop keep making a noise. Of course, that often means walking out at some point too...
Or maybe that's not frozen on her face but some kind of dignity for the mother of the future emperor?
Welcome, Saashi! You are right, and the trouble is that in any „hidebound, rigid, patriarchal environment“ women are not even allowed to say that they suffer. They have no voice – and that makes it probable that people from outside will say that those women are probably feeling quite well as this is just their culture that, accordingly, has to be respected...
It is usually the destiny of those initiating social changes that they do not get to see the results of their work within their lifetime…Thanks very much for the welcome and the flowers .The main thing is to make a noise about it whether it is the done thing or not and if the maltreatment doesn't stop keep making a noise. Of course, that often means walking out at some point too...
You are perfectly right.She'll be an empress herself, won't she? I mean, her husband, if he outlives his brother, would become emperor before their son would, right?
If hundred years ago, in 1909, somebody would have told the Germans that within hundred years women would not only have the right to vote (which they had not in 1909) but that Germany would be a democracy by then and the head of state a woman, this person would have been declared to be as mad as a hatter. Still, this has become true.
You are perfectly right, Jo of Palatine. But as most people here in the Japanese section are not from Germany and many not even from Europe I did not want to enter into the complicated details of the German government system. I do not suppose that many people here even know of the existence of the German Bundespräsident (Horst Köhler) but they might have seen the chancellor, Angela Merkel, on TV, together with Bush, Sarkozy/Chirac, Blair/Brown etc., at the G8-meetings, for example.
Basically yes. “By contrast, the duties of the Bundespräsident (Federal President) are largely representative and ceremonial; power is exercised by the Chancellor.” Politics of Germany - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia“Would Angela Merkel's role be similar to that of a Prime Minister then?
Regarding Kiko, maybe she initally felt less pressure being wife of the second son. And as time has gone by and the "magic" has worn off, perhaps she has felt unfulfilled and if the observations in this thread are right, unloved. But I invite this group to consider what choice does she really have?
Assume that she was so despondent as to actually consider and go through with a divorce. Just like any other royal family, her children are in the line of succession (I know, I know...but the gender discussion is another thread). There is no way that she would be able to have very much connection to them. And I just don't see the IHA providing living quarters for her within the compound like was done for Diana in Great Britain.
Aside from all of that, what prospects would she have for a romantic life? Realistically, who would want to get involved with someone with that kind of baggage...mother of a future emperor, ex-wife of an imperial prince?
All of these observations could be completely wrong and she could be extremely happy and fulfilled. But if they are correct and she has decided to just "grin and bear it" and put on the show, maybe she did so because the alternative, at least from her perspective, might seem equally or even more bleak than an inattentive, possibly philandering husband.
There cannot be any doubt that a divorced princess would have to give up her children. If you consider that the women who have married into the imperial family are hardly ever allowed to see even their own parents and are certainly not allowed to stay overnight with them, you can possibly imagine how the children of a divorced princess would be kept away from their “guilty” mother. I think that this fact is sufficient to make a divorce unimaginable for Masako as well as for Kiko. But Masako has passed big parts of her life abroad so that it could be possible for her to find a place to live where she could be “useful and happy”, especially as her parents are also living in Europe. I think that she would never ever leave neither her husband nor her daughter but she has, at least, an alternative. Kiko has none - if she does not want to become a buddhist nun which I do not suppose...
I find your comment insightful. We can not project a situation surrounding a divorce in a usual household onto the Imperial family. Yes, usual Japanese women have got more latitude, when it comes to divorce, choice of lifestyle, children, and etc. However, the Imperial family is largely governed by traditional values and norms. Therefore, Princess Kiko's freedom of choice is limited.... [snipped]
Concerning what you say about divorce in Japan (women who are not “at fault” get custody of their children) I am not sure what you want to say by that in the present context. Can you really see it happening - under any circumstances - that an imperial princess gets a divorce, with her husband being seen to be “at fault”, that she accordingly gets the custody of her children and walks away with them, among them the only male heir to the chrysanthemum throne in the youngest generation? Or, if not, what is it that you want to say?
Maybe I have to add that if I am calling Kiko´s situation difficult I am not at all talking about Japanese women in general.