The Kyoto District Court ordered the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology and its president to pay 110,000 yen in damages on September 30, a ruling that touches a relative of the emperor as the imperial family prepares to accept adopted heirs.
The defendants were ordered to pay jointly, Daily Shincho reported. They are the Chiba Prefecture-based foundation, in Abiko, and its president, Motohiro Mibu, 77.
The institute was founded in 1932 by the late Prince Yamashina Yoshimaro, a member of the imperial family. Prince Akishino has served as its patron since 1986, and Kuroda Sayako, formerly Princess Nori, has worked there and is now a fellow.
A reprimand and an email
The plaintiff was a man in his 40s who headed the institute's natural history laboratory. In September 2020, with the institute on remote work during the coronavirus pandemic, Mibu issued him a formal reprimand.
The stated reason was that the man had not come to the office for a long period and could no longer carry out his duties as head of the laboratory. The wording suggested unexcused absence.
The man argued the reprimand lacked any reasonable basis and amounted to a tort. He also said Mibu emailed the reason to staff, damaging his reputation, and told him he was "a person who cannot fulfill his responsibilities as a leader."
He sent a certified letter asking Prince Akishino, the institute's patron, to help overturn the reprimand. The dispute grew into a major internal fight.
He sued in October 2023, seeking 11 million yen in compensation and a published apology.
What the court found
The court rejected his claims over the reprimand and the remark about his character. It upheld the defamation claim over the email sent in Mibu's name, finding it lowered his standing in society.
“I am glad part of the tort was recognized. But I find it hard to accept that responsibility was not recognized on the other points, and I have appealed.”the plaintiff, former head of the institute's natural history laboratory
Why the ruling matters
Mibu's birth name is Higashikuni Naruhiko. The Higashikuni house was founded in 1906 as a branch of the Kuninomiya family. Its first head, Prince Naruhiko, was known after the war as the "prince prime minister." His wife was Emperor Meiji's ninth daughter.
The couple's eldest son, Morihiro, had three sons with Emperor Showa's eldest daughter, Shigeko. The eldest, Nobuhiko, was Emperor Showa's first grandchild and an uncle of the current emperor. Mibu is Nobuhiko's younger brother.
Mibu carries a different surname because he was adopted into the Mibu family, an old line of counts related to the Higashikuni. He too is a grandson of Emperor Showa and a cousin of the emperor and Prince Akishino.
The revised Imperial House Law took effect on October 24. It allows male-line men of the former princely houses to enter the imperial family as adopted sons, and gives sons born to such adoptees a place in the line of succession.
The law's central aim is to keep the male-line framework. The four houses expected to supply candidates are Kaya, Kuni, Higashikuni and Takeda.
By succession order at the time the eleven houses left the imperial family in 1947, the Kaya family ranks highest. The Higashikuni house is seen as a leading candidate alongside it, and has by far the most male-line men.
A person close to the former princely houses said Mibu's eldest and second sons each have a teenage boy. His younger brother Naohiko, 73, has a son in his 20s and a grandson. Nobuhiko's eldest son, Yukihiko, 53, has two boys.
Unmarried male-line men from the former houses have been floated as possible marriage partners for Princess Aiko. Attention falls most heavily on the Higashikuni house, which has the largest pool.
People close to the issue see the lost case as a scandal that could dampen that momentum.
“Nearly 80 years have passed since they left the imperial family, and the former princely families are now born and live as ordinary citizens. This ruling shows that they too can make mistakes that go against the law.”Hisatsugu Odabe, professor emeritus at Shizuoka University of Welfare and an expert on the imperial system
“There is still deep criticism of the way the Imperial House Law was revised, which clung to male-line succession and left public debate behind. This case has exposed the risks in the adoption plan and could reignite that smoldering criticism.”Hisatsugu Odabe, professor emeritus at Shizuoka University of Welfare and an expert on the imperial system
The Weekly Shincho issue of November 19 carries a fuller account, including a profile of Mibu.