The country’s leading news agency, Kyodo News, reported on Saturday that Japan’s imperial couple "felt a sense of unease" about their links to the British royal family ahead of their state visit in 1998.
Citing newly released documents at the National Archives in London, the news agency said that “then Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko felt they lacked the more intimate connections enjoyed by other members of the imperial family with Britain and its royal family.”
Akihito's son Emperor Naruhito, who was the then crown prince, and his wife both studied at Oxford University between 1983 and 1985, making ties with the British family. Akihito's younger son, Crown Prince Fumihito, and his cousin-in-law, Princess Hisako, had also built ties with Britain’s royals while they attended Cambridge University and Oxford respectively.
All these gave the imperial couple “a sense of unease about the lack of a close relationship with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh”, according to Kyodo News.
Although such a situation is astonishing in today’s world, it indicates some realities regarding the ruling system in Japan, which should not be neglected.
Japan is probably among a few countries which have deep-rooted disputes with all of their neighbors. Japan and Russia have not yet signed a peace deal since the end of World War Two in 1945. Japan is also in a territorial dispute with South Korea over the islands called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, with both claiming the tiny islets. This is in addition to the issues disputed by Tokyo and Seoul, which date back to World War Two. Japan has not resolved its dispute with China over Senkaku Islands claimed by Beijing either. At the same time, Tokyo is at odds with Seoul, Beijing and others over defining an exclusive economic zone around Okinotorishima island.
The issue is not that which side is right in those disputes or similar cases. Japan’s territorial integrity is respected and it has the right to defend its national interests, just like any other country. The issue is that a country like Japan, which has a strong economy and possesses advanced industries in the world, is expected to act more professionally and powerfully when it comes to diplomacy.
Maybe the astonishing situation, which was earlier mentioned in this article, has impacted the slow growth of Japanese diplomacy. And maybe the report published by Kyodo News would make Japanese elites think more about their country’s diplomatic interactions.
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