Japan’s 14-year-old princess absent from school a month due to health reasons

TOKYO — Princess Aiko, the only child of Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, has been absent from her junior high school for a month due to her poor health condition, an Imperial Household Agency official said Tuesday (Oct 25).

The 14-year-old princess has missed school since Sept 26 because of fatigue from examinations after the summer vacation and preparation for the school’s athletic meet, the official said.

Crown Princess Masako on Oct 6 took her to the Hospital of the Imperial Household, where no particular health problem was found as a result of a check, according to the official.

The princess “does not have to keep to her bed all day long. She took a walk in a garden for a little while yesterday,” said Mr Nobutake Odano, grand master of the crown prince’s household.

He said, however, no schedule has been set for her return to school.

“According to her doctor, although her condition has been improving little by little, it may take some more time for recovery,” Mr Odano said.

The princess spent a busy summer vacation, travelling with her parents who attended a “Water Day” ceremony in Tokyo on Aug 1 and a Mountain Day event in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture in central Japan on Aug 11.

Crown Princess Masako cancelled a plan to travel with Crown Prince Naruhito for three days to Sunday to participate in a ceremony in Iwate Prefecture in northeastern Japan due partly to weariness after taking care of her daughter.

Princess Aiko, who is now in the third year at Gakushuin Girls’ Junior High School in Tokyo, was occasionally absent from class when she was in the second to fourth years of primary school. KYODO NEWS