A Royal Romance

The marriage of H. R. H. Crown Prince Hirohito of Japan, who is also Regent, to Princess Nagako Kuni-no-Miya will be solemnized on Jan. 29 in the sanctuary of the Imperial Palace at Tokyo.

The royal marriage was to have taken place last month, but had to be postponed owing to the disastrous earthquake.

Both the Crown Prince and the Princess are adored by the Japanese for their simplicity and their democratic views.

Hitherto, it was not comme il faut (in fact it was considered "indecent") for a royal prince to marry for love. The Crown Prince, breaker of precedents, loved his Princess, but he had to battle for her with Prince Yamagata, the most formidable of the Elder Statesmen--a fact which increased his popularity with the people.

It was subsequently decided to send the Prince on a world tour in the hope that he would forget his little Princess. In 1921 he went on the world tour planned for him, but he did not forget--neither did Princess Nagako.

When the Crown Prince came back to the Land of the Rising Sun, official orders prescribed that full reverence be accorded to him, which meant there must be absolutely no noise. The sight of a white figure stepping from the launch, which landed the prince, was too much for his idolizing people. Kotaishi denka Banzai! (10,000 years to the Crown Prince!) rent the air from tens of thousands of throats, thundered over the waters and reverberated along the hills and down the streets--the Prince, their Prince, had come home.

After such a spontaneously popular welcome, opposition was withdrawn to the royal marriage and the engagement was formally announced in June, 1922.