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How Emperor Akihito's 'love match' won over Japan

30th April 2019



Written by Stephy Chung, CNN and Yoko Wakatsuki, CNN.
Tokyo, Japan

In the late 1950s, royal wedding fever swept Japan. Then-Crown Prince Akihito had fallen for literature graduate Michiko Shoda, whom he met on a tennis court in 1957 in a fateful encounter that came to be known as the "love match."

National fascination with the prince's wedding was due, in part, to Michiko's status as a commoner -- a move that broke with over 2,000 years of tradition. But the growth of mass media and the emergence of live television also helped to cement the pair's enormous popularity, forever changing the way that the royal family shaped its public image.

The nation was enthralled by the future princess, and photos of her appeared everywhere. Media outlets, like the women's weekly magazine Josei Jishin, pored over Michiko in glossy, picture-led features that dissected her style choices, among much else.

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Photography and mass media again played a huge role in this evolution, especially on the wedding day. "Everyone was enraptured by this 'romance of the century,'" recalled Shigeo Suzuki, a former TV producer who oversaw coverage of the wedding in 1959.


Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko riding a carriage through the streets of Tokyo on their wedding day. Credit: Kyodo News/Getty Images

"The country was coming out of the shadows of defeat in World War II and was working hard to create the image of a new Japan. It was in the beginning of an economic boom, material and electronic products were entering households, and all of this coincided with the prince's marriage."

Along with his team from Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), Suzuki set up 12 camera positions to capture the event.

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A model for modernization

On April 10, 1959, more than half a million people lined the parade route, while an estimated 15 million tuned in to watch the wedding live. After the ceremony, Akihito and Michiko continued to embrace their public roles, using the media to help shape a new, modern image for the imperial family -- both before and after they were named emperor and empress in 1989.

During photo opportunities, cameras were invited to get closer shots and better angles than ever before, according to Chikashige. Images from the time show the young couple raising their own children and taking them to school, as well as cooking in the palace kitchen.


The couple often broke with tradition, opting to raise their own children. Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images

"They (the couple) wanted to show they were not reigning, but rather, they were just like us," he said. "Thanks to these pictures of the prince and princess, the image of the imperial family gradually changed from one of reverence to one of love and respect.

"They became a model for modern, Westernized lifestyles at a time when Japan was moving away from the destruction of war and into a new era."

https://edition.cnn.com/

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