The Economist October 30th 2021 Asia 69P
rincessmakoandKomuroKeiwere
undergraduates when they first met
in Tokyo back in 2012. Mako was drawn to
Kei’s “smile that is like the sun”. Kei saw
Mako as “the moon watching over me
tranquilly”. The couple began dating and
kept in touch while Mako studied
abroad; in 2017, they got engaged.
The problems began when Japanese
tabloids dug into Mr Komuro, and dis
covered that his mother had reportedly
taken a loan of ¥4m ($35,000) from her
exfiancé that she did not return. Com
mentators called Mr Komuro, a com
moner, a golddigger. They questioned
whether his love for Mako was real. The
couple delayed the marriage and Mr
Komuro went to study law in America,
but the furore did not die down. On his
return earlier this year, Japanese media
seized upon his ponytail as further evi
dence of his unsuitability for their be
loved princess.
On October 26th the couple married at
last, but without the typical formal cere
mony and despite a small street protest
held the same day. By most measures, the
accusations are not scandalworthy. But
they reflect broader anxieties around the
challenges confronting a changing Japa
nese society and institutions that have
been slow to catch up.
One challenge is to the royal family
itself, which is the world’s oldest surviv
ing hereditary monarchy. It has been
slow to adapt to modern media. The
Imperial Household Agency is masterful
at managing archives and fussing over
rituals, but struggles with public rela
tions. It did little to correct misinformationthatspreadaboutthecoupleonline.
Another is the harsh treatment of
royal women, a magnified version of the
sexism that many Japanese women face
on a daily basis. Mako was diagnosed
with posttraumatic stress disorder
during her ordeal. Empress Masako, the
wife of the current emperor, Naruhito,
has also suffered from stressrelated
illness amid intense pressure to produce
a male heir. Empress Michiko, her prede
cessor, lost her voice for months in the
1960s and 1990s as a result of stress.
The affair has also brought the fam
ily’s tenuous future to the fore. By marry
ing a commoner, Mako has ceased to be
royal (this rule would not apply if she
were male). Her departure leaves just 17
royals, and only men can inherit the
Chrysanthemum throne. Merely three
potential heirs remain. Japan’s ruling
Liberal Democratic Party has blocked
moves to allow future female monarchs.
The episode highlights how Japan’s
politics, especially on social issues, are
hostage to a vocal, conservative minority.
Recent polls show that most Japanese in
fact support the partnership of Mako and
Kei. Some 85% favour allowing female
succession. A similar dynamic—where
the public is far more liberal than legisla
tors—exists around gay marriage and the
question of whether to allow couples to
keep separate surnames, which Japanese
law does not allow.
Like a certain British duo, the Japan
ese royal couple have decided to make
their future outside the stodgy confines
of their homeland. Mako and Kei will
soon join Harry and Meghan in America. JapanesesocietyThe sun, the moon and the ponytail
TOKYO
Along-delayed royal wedding reveals uncomfortable truths about JapanStarry eyedliving on less than $1.90 a day when Kabul
fell. By the middle of 2022, that may rise to
97%. “We’ve not seen this level of near uni
versal poverty in any country in recent his
tory,” said Kanni Wignarajaof the unDe
velopment Programme on October 21st.
The immediate reason for the crisis is
the loss of foreign aid, on which the Af
ghan economy previously depended. Be
fore the Taliban took over the country re
ceived around $8.5bn a year, which was
twofifths of its gdp. Threequarters of the
government’s budget was paid for by for
eign donors, including almost all of health
and education. The central bank also relied
on regular cash injections from abroad.
All that ended on August 15th, when the
previous government fled the country. Aid
payments were suspended and the coun
try’s $9bn in foreign reserves was frozen to
prevent the Taliban from getting their
hands on it. The government’s hefty wage
bill, which included salaries for 220,000
teachers, has since gone unpaid.
With no dollars being shipped in, the
hard currency needed to purchase foreign
goods has dried up. Fear of sanctions has
largely halted transactions related to for
eign trade in any case. Foreign correspon
dent banks, which provide currency ex
change and help with money transfers, are
cutting their links to Afghan banks. They
worry that they will be punished for deal
ing with the new regime, many members
of which are under unsanctions. The cur
rency is in free fall; basic necessities are
scarce; inflation is rising.
Because much of the economy is infor
mal, it is hard to know precisely how bad
things are. Informal money transfers and
the black market may be taking some of the
strain. Yet many people are apparently un
able to afford even bare necessities. Kabul
residents have taken to selling their pos
sessions by the roadside to buy food. The
imfestimates gdpmay contract by 30% in
the coming months.
There is little hope that things will get
better soon. The Taliban, who this month
somehow found the money to hold a re
ception celebrating their suicidebombers,
seem to have no plan to tackle the disaster
other than to blame it on foreigners. Af
ghanistan’s former backers, meanwhile,
are turning their attentions elsewhere. De
spite pledges made at a recent donor con
ference in Geneva, aid plans are only one
third funded. Moreover, says Robert Mar
dini, the boss of the Red Cross, “no hu
manitarian organisation can...replace the
economy of a country.”
Attitudes towards the regime, which
shows little sign of keeping its promises to
form an inclusive government or respect
women’s rights, are hardening. Having al
lowed the Taliban to takeoverthe country,
Western leaders look settoobserve its eco
nomic collapse from afar.n