Japan’s Princess Aiko being bullied at school

There’s something egalitarian, and therefore perversely reassuring, about a little princess being bullied at school.  After all, this is a rite of passage almost every commoner must endure….

But, ironically, there is nothing common about the bullying Japan’s eight-year-old Princess Aiko has been subjected to (which reportedly became so severe that she begged her parents not to make her return to school). For what makes this case so unique is the fact that the mischievousness of the prepubescent thugs involved was probably incited, in part, by the jingoistic fulminations of their parents.

Specifically, given the national scorn and derision Aiko’s mother was subjected to for giving birth to her instead of a male heir, it’s hardly surprising that these kids would think Aiko should be “treated harshly” too.

Here’s how I lamented this grownup bullying, which caused Aiko’s mother, Crown Princess Masako, to suffer a very public nervous breakdown a couple of years after her birth:

Princess Masako has been effectively exiled to her maiden country home after failing to inject life into the moribund Japanese imperial family…

The Japanese expected her to do for Japan’s monarchy what Princess Diana had done for Britain’s; i.e., exhibit a more contemporary style and provide a male heir … and a spare… Unforgiving Japanese monarchists were indignant at Masako for failing so spectacularly in both respects. And they were not shy about expressing their indignation, propagating a battery of promiscuous reasons for her male-bearing infertility.

[To Japan a (male) heir is born, TIJ, September 8, 2006]

And again here:

I took a very keen interest in the fate that befell Princess Masako of Japan three years ago after it became clear that she would not emulate Princess Diana  by providing a male heir (and a spare) to ensure the unbroken longevity of Japan’s royal family. 

My interest stemmed from the fact that Japan’s agnatic succession law, which precludes women from inheriting the throne, was deemed so sacrosanct that Masoko’s daughter Aiko became more an object of national resentment than a symbol of national pride. 

[Japan’s Crown Princess Masako resumes official duties, TIJ, March 4, 2009]

Given this, it’s no wonder that contempt for the mother has been visited upon the daughter.

All the same, Masako and her husband, Crown Prince Naruhito, should be commended for coaxing Aiko into returning to school yesterday-after being absent since March 1.  Never mind that, according to Japan’s Kyodo News, her return followed an “intervention” by the Imperial Palace. This suggests that these schoolyard bullies as well as their enabling parents (even if unwittingly) were given a royal tongue lashing in the principal’s office.

Unfortunately, reports are that Aiko was still so traumatized that her mother had to rescue her well before the end of the school day.  

And so, just as bullying by grownups forced her mother from public life, bullying by these kids might force Aiko to do the same. Talk about living in a gilded cage…

Related commentaries:
To Japan a (male) heir is born
Masako resumes official duties