Last month, The Times reported what has been an open secret for months — that rather than suffering from stress and physical illness, as the official version has it, Princess Masako is being treated for depression. She has made no public appearances since last December when she was reported to be suffering from shingles. She has since been on a lengthy retreat to the mountain town of Karuizawa, with her mother and only child, two-year-old Princess Aiko, but without her husband.
Coverage of the Imperial Family is restricted to a small pool of reporters from the main Japanese newspapers and TV stations, which report only what is authorised by the household agency. Yesterday, despite a new policy of allowing registered foreign journalists into news conferences by government agencies, The Times was refused admission to the gathering where the Crown Prince’s statement was released.
In this information void, wild rumours flourish. They include talk of the Prince and the Princess being estranged and of Princess Aiko suffering from autism. But the Crown Prince’s remarks yesterday set out the most credible reasons for Masako’s distress: the extraordinary difficulties of imperial life for a highly educated, cosmopolitan woman.