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Thursday December 14, 5:30 PMSeparate duties must be considered for crown princess: agency chief(Kyodo) _ Crown Princess Masako's official duties must be considered separately from those of her husband Crown Prince Naruhito to take account of the likelihood that she will need more time to recover from a mental illness she has been suffering, the Imperial Household Agency chief said Thursday."On the assumption that her treatment will take a long time, we need to think about official duties the crown prince will perform alone and others the couple will do together, including the option of dividing work between the two," the imperial household's grand steward, Shingo Haketa, said at a news conference. Haketa expressed his intention to talk with the crown prince, 46, about the matter, possibly by the end of the month. Crown Princess Masako, 43, stopped performing most of her official duties in December 2003 due to poor health brought on by stress. She was diagnosed in July 2004 as suffering from an adjustment disorder -- a mental illness in which stress causes anxiety and depression, and has taken medication as part of her treatment. Earlier this month, a team of doctors treating the crown princess said in a statement that it would take some time for her recovery as she sometimes "feels more tired than she thought and cannot act as easily as she wants to." Haketa stressed Thursday that the official duties Crown Princess Masako performed lately are only "transitional" and expressed concern that a public debate on the issue could lead to added pressure on her if it was perceived that she is not doing what she is supposed to do. At past news conferences, Crown Prince Naruhito has referred to the need for a review of his wife's official duties and consideration of new ones that suit her interest and background as a former Foreign Ministry official. The crown prince and crown princess went to the city of Nara in October, her first official duty involving an overnight stay in nearly three years. She has lately attended dozens of lectures at the United Nations University in Tokyo as part of her treatment. Speculation has been rife that the Harvard-educated former diplomat buckled under unrelenting pressure to produce a male heir for the Chrysanthemum Throne, which had not seen an heir born for 41 years until Princess Kiko, her sister-in-law, gave birth to Prince Hisahito in September. Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako have one daughter, 5-year-old Princess Aiko. |
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