Japanese princess borrowing a crown… ‘Admiration’ for using a 7,000 won water bottle for 10 years

Princess Aiko, who is the only daughter of Emperor Naruhito and receives attention for her every move, shows a frugal side and is greatly loved by the local people.

On the 23rd, the Japanese monthly magazine Women’s Self reported that Princess Aiko has been using a water bottle purchased for 800 yen (about 7,100 won) for 10 years. Princess Aiko’s tumbler has a picture of a guide dog on it.

He recently attended an event held at his alma mater, Kakyushuin University, and the first thing he visited was the guide dog experience booth operated by iMate.

The iMate Association is an organization that helps visually impaired people become independent by training guide dogs. iMate sells charity products, and 10 years ago, Princess Aiko bought an 800 yen tumbler here. Emperor Naruhito, who noticed the true situation of Princess Aiko, who was sad that she could not help her child due to lack of pocket money at a young age, gave her pocket money.

When the person in charge introduced the new charity product at the event, Princess Aiko took out this tumbler from her bag.

The woman herself said that after donating to the donation box, Princess Aiko talked to the iMate representative for a while despite her friend’s signal to go somewhere else.

Princess Aiko has been working as a contract employee at the Japanese Red Cross in Minato-ku, Tokyo since this month. He is expected to be assigned his first official task soon.

After joining the company, he said through the Imperial Household Agency, “It may be a small amount, but I hope I can be of some help to other people and society.”

He is said to have shown a passion for completing various chores, including cleaning trash cans and answering phone calls.

Princess Aiko’s simple appearance has been shown several times before.

At the 2021 coming-of-age ceremony, she became a hot topic by attending and borrowing her aunt’s tiara (small crown).

It is customary for Japanese royal women who come of age to wear a tiara. It is produced with the royal budget. First, Aiko’s cousin Mako, who held her coming-of-age ceremony, bought a tiara worth 28.56 million yen (about 260 million won) in 2011, and Gako bought a tiara worth 27.93 million yen (250 million won) in 2014.

Unlike her cousins, Princess Aiko did not make her own tiara, saying she could not waste tax money on her own account during Japan’s difficult situation due to the coronavirus.

Currently, only men can inherit the Japanese royal family. Since Emperor Naruhito has no sons, his younger brother, Crown Prince Fumihito, will be the first in line to succeed to the throne, and his youngest son, Hisahito, will be the second in line to succeed to the throne. However, there is a steady stream of opinions that it is better for Aiko to succeed to the throne than these two.

In a 2019 Nihon Keizai Shimbun opinion poll, 76% of people said they were in favor of a woman ascending to the throne. According to the results of a 2021 public opinion poll conducted by Kyodo News, 82% of people said they were in favor of a female emperor.

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