Princess Aiko, the eldest daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, will make a solo official visit to Singapore from Nov. 17 to 21, timed to the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Singapore.
The trip is the clearest sign yet of how much the imperial family now leans on her. She will call on Singapore's president, attend a dinner hosted by the president and visit facilities, according to the plan reported in advance by Singapore's main daily Lianhe Zaobao on Oct. 23.
The writer and scholar of imperial history Hiromi Shimada argues in a column for President Online that her workload keeps growing while her future does not. Aiko turns 25 on Dec. 1, and no role commensurate with her duties has been settled.
A diplomatic role that keeps expanding
Singapore is not a routine destination. On the 40th anniversary in 2006, the then-imperial couple — now the emperor emeritus and empress emerita — visited as state guests. For the 50th, Singapore's president and his wife came to Japan as state guests.
Shimada notes that Singapore, a high-income economy and international financial hub, matters more to Japan in economic terms than Laos, where Aiko made her first overseas trip. He suggests a European visit could follow next year.
The decision is not hers to make. An invitation comes from the Singapore side first, and the cabinet then approves it, Shimada writes.
A face abroad, a question at home
Shimada's column is titled around the tension he sees: Japan asks Aiko to be the face of the country abroad while the political system declines to let her inherit the throne. He calls the treatment of the direct line's eldest child under the government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi a folly.
Succession to the Chrysanthemum Throne is limited to men in the male line under the Imperial House Law, so Aiko, born to the emperor, is not in line. The debate over whether to allow a woman to reign, or to keep the line going through the emperor's female descendants, has been deferred by politicians, Shimada writes.
He points to the visibility she already carries. Three weekly magazines on a convenience store shelf recently ran her on their covers, and her calendars, popular since last year, are now issued in several versions.
“Her achievements are remarkable, but her responsibilities grow by the day, and the future that would match them is not promised.”Hiromi Shimada, writing in President Online