Japanese princess to marry commoner fiancé on Nov 15

Her Imperial Highness Princess Sayako of Japan, scion of one of the world's oldest monarchies, will marry her commoner fiancé on November 15, becoming plain Mrs Sayako Kuroda.

Marriage to Yoshiki Kuroda, a Tokyo urban planner, means the only daughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko must leave the sequestered environment of the Imperial family for a new life as a housewife.

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No daughter of an emperor has married out since 1960 and Japan's tabloid media are watching closely for clues as to how the reserved 36-year-old princess, a keen birdwatcher and student of traditional Japanese dance, will cope with the transition.

Freed from a busy round of formal ceremonies and public appearances, Sayako has also resigned from her part-time job, leaving uncertainty as to how she will spend her time.

Her sister-in-law, Masako, found the shock of the opposite transformation -- from commoner to Crown Princess -- so severe she disappeared from the public eye for over a year, suffering from what courtiers called an "adjustment disorder". Masako made her first solo public appearance in two years on Sunday.

Sayako has expressed unease about dealing with everyday life. That may be one reason why she has given up her job as a researcher at an ornithology centre in Chiba, observers say.

"For ordinary people, learning to be a housewife is no big deal. But it is a different matter for her. I imagine she wants to concentrate on that for a while," said Miiko Kodama, professor of mass communication at Musashi University.

"After all, it is not even clear if she would be able to catch a train. Imagine coping with a packed Tokyo rush hour if you are not used to it," she added.

Sayako's mother, who is also said to have suffered great mental distress as the first commoner to marry an heir to the throne, has tried to prepare her to avoid a similar shock in reverse, royal watchers say.

"Michiko had so many problems and she was determined her daughter would not," said Midori Watanabe, a college lecturer and expert on royalty who has written books on the imperial family.

The empress sent her daughter to a neighbourhood kindergarten for a year and taught her the basics of cooking and housekeeping.

From an early age, it was Sayako's job to fetch the milk and newspapers for the family every morning, Watanabe said, adding that, as a child she also liked to bake cookies and deliver them to her grandfather, Emperor Hirohito.

A 152.5 million yen lump sum from the government will keep Sayako far from penury, although she will have to swap the grandeur of the imperial palace and its vast gardens where she liked to observe the birdlife, for an ordinary apartment complex.

For her 40-year-old fiancé, their home may seem relatively luxurious. Though a descendant of Japan's now-abolished aristocracy, media reports say Kuroda currently shares a 60 square metre (645 square feet) apartment with his mother.

Since her engagement, Sayako has taken driving lessons, in an apparent attempt to fit in with her racing-car enthusiast fiancé, and has also brushed up her cooking skills. She may also be assigned an adviser to help her with unfamiliar practicalities.

"But I expect Mr Kuroda will have to accompany her to the supermarket at first," Watanabe said.

BREAKING WITH TRADITION
The wedding itself will be a modest affair compared, for example, with the pageantry of the 1973 marriage of Princess Anne to Mark Phillips. There will be no parade through the streets, as when Sayako's older brother Crown Prince Naruhito married the then-diplomat Masako Owada in 1993.

In a break with tradition, the Emperor and Empress will attend both ceremony and reception, but the only other dignitary reported to be on the guest list is Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, who has been invited in his capacity as Kuroda's boss.

The Imperial Household Agency is tight-lipped about what it says will be a private occasion, but a hotel wedding is a rarity for a member of the Imperial family and tabloid reports say staff at the venue, the Imperial hotel, are scrambling to comply with protocol.