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Japanese prince blames alcoholism on imperial woes
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Sun, Jul 08, 2007
Reuters
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>TOKYO, July 7 (Reuters) - Japanese Emperor Akihito's cousin, who once sparked outrage by suggesting reviving the tradition of royal concubines, confirmed his reputation for frankness on Saturday when he spoke openly about his alcoholism.
Japan's imperial family tend to be tight-lipped about their private lives, but Prince Tomohito joked about his addiction in a speech at a meeting on welfare services. He said his drinking was linked to worries over the lack of male royal heirs.
"I am Prince Tomohito, dependent on alcohol," the 61-year-old prince began his speech, according to Kyodo news agency.
"I have been drinking alcohol since my days in university and am dependent on it, so I find it rather surprising that I am seen to have been hit by it now," he added, drawing laughter from the audience.
The Imperial Household Agency announced last month that the prince would be treated for alcohol dependency and severe insomnia and needed to stay in hospital for more than a month.
In 2005, the prince controversially proposed reintroducing concubines as a way to preserve the male imperial line.
At that time, no males had been born into the royal family for 40 years, and a government advisory panel had recommended allowing an empress to reign. Debate on the subject died down after a prince was born last September to the family of Akihito's second son.
Prince Tomohito said in his speech that he had been consuming more alcohol in the past few years due to his anxiety over the imperial succession issue and problems within his own family, Kyodo said.
He said he was going through counselling and trying to keep himself fit through exercise.
"The Imperial Household Agency had told me not to say outright that I am dependent (on alcohol) but I hated being made a topic of talk based on speculation," Kyodo quoted him as saying.
While Japan's royals are much more reserved than their British counterparts, recent health problems in the family have drawn attention to their stressful and tightly controlled lives.
Empress Michiko has suffered from a series of stress-related diseases, rumoured to have been triggered by bullying from the courtiers who run the lives of the imperial family. She fell ill with intestinal bleeding as recently as March.
Her daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Masako, has withdrawn from most of her official duties for more than three years because of a stress-induced mental illness, blamed by many royal watchers on pressure to bear a male heir.
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