(At last! ) A true Princess on Ice

[Justlooking]

From Wikipedia

Princess Kako Akishino of Japan (秋篠宮佳子内親王殿下 Akishino no miya Kako naishinnō denka) (born 29 December 1994) the second daughter of Prince Akishino (Fumihito) and his wife, the former Kawashima Kiko, is a member of the Japanese imperial family. She is the second-born granddaughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAwCwXyXv4g&feature=related

 

[jsteam4501s]

How lovely, how adorable! Thank you for the link!

 

[Tinymavy15]

I heard about this a year of so ago. One of the japanese emperial family skating competitivly! I wonder if she gets preferantial placement?

 

[Bennett]

It's a bit surprising for me that they let her do that in public. I felt that figure skating costumes could be considered too revealing according to their modest standard (just think of the kind of attention that those top star girls sometimes receive from the media). In contrast, I recall one of those royal family members doing traditional Japanese dancing. The costumes for that reveal anything but the face, neck, and hands, all of which are concealed by heavy white makeup to the extent that you can barely recognize who. Yet, upper class families in the past had not liked the idea of letting your dauther dance (of any kind) in public (although they could enjoy watching it). I don't know how the imperial family has reconciled with such a view in more recent years. On the other hand, the imperial family has always done tennis after the WW2, that might have set another standard about how much the female members can reveal when the sports require it.

 

[Wrlmy]

It will be so awesome if she becomes an elite skater! I feel weird the announcer calls her "sama" instead of "san" in the clip. I can imagine other girls, coaches, and parents would feel uncomfortable.

 

[Bennett]

It will be so awesome if she becomes an elite skater! I feel weird the announcer calls her "sama" instead of "san" in the clip. I can imagine other girls, coaches, and parents would feel uncomfortable.

I don't think they would ever be called without "sama" in public as long as they remain the member of it. That's the way it is however it appears to contradict with the constitution that gurantees the equal right of everyone (excluding them who are the national "symbol"). But no, I don't think that the oher girls and their parents would feel uncomfortable. They would just accept it as natural.

I wonder if she gets preferantial placement?

I heard an old funny story about her father that he wouldn't get F in exams as a college student regardless of the school performance (perhaps it would have been too shameful if he had) so that the other students rushed to the same classes with him because they assumed that they would not get F as long as they did at least the same level of performance with him (I don't know if this was a true story though. Just a side point, the current emperor interestingly doesn't have a college degree because he needed to miss a lot of attendance days due to official duties as a prince. I am surprised that they did not issue the degree despite that, whereas this girl's father has received so-called "honorary" PhDs from Thai universities despite the limited graduate education that he ever received).

I think it possible that she could be a bit overrated as a voluntary way of showing courtesy. You could look more talented and skilled if you had a brand name. Yet, FS is such a subjective sport that it happens all the time with any other skaters. So I won't be surprised if this happens.

In any case, the main thing about the current imperial system is that they are at least not allowed to have any real political power. So I won't take such priviledges of them too seriously (although they could be annoying sometimes like when traffic is messed up for a security reason due to their visit to your town or something; but this is another story).

 

[Ladskater]

I don't see anything wrong with this. Members of the Royal Family - the Windsors - Queen Elizabeth for those who are not familiar with the family name - participate in all sorts of sports. Prince Charles plays polo and Princess Anne does equestrian riding. Several of the Royals are serving in the Military. So I really don't think this Ice Princess should have too much trouble in the figure skating world - except maybe with the other Ice Princesses!

 

[Bennett]

I don't see anything wrong with this. Members of the Royal Family - the Windsors - Queen Elizabeth for those who are not familiar with the family name - participate in all sorts of sports. Prince Charles plays polo and Princess Anne does equestrian riding. Several of the Royals are serving in the Military. So I really don't think this Ice Princess should have too much trouble in the figure skating world - except maybe with the other Ice Princesses!

No, I don't see any problem, either. Besides, I don't think that she would be that competitive either, I am afraid.

 

[ks777]

I heard that Hanae Yokoya, a former top 10 skater in the world, was coaching her. Yes, I have heard that she does get preferential treatments.. or she wins with misteriously high PCS.

 

[Bennett]

I heard that Hanae Yokoya, a former top 10 skater in the world, was coaching her.

I heard that she was coached by Mr. Yutaka Higuchi as well (perhaps both?).

Yes, I have heard that she does get preferential treatments.. or she wins with misteriously high PCS.

That's so funny. Perhaps she is considered to have innate grace

 

[dwiggin3]

I'm surprised that the terrible wrap that is already present with her doubles has not been mentioned. Cute girl though.

 

[gkelly]

I'm surprised that the terrible wrap that is already present with her doubles has not been mentioned. Cute girl though.

I would be less concerned about the wrap itself than with the related fact that none of the doubles was fully rotated. However, if she can solve that problem the rest of her skating is better than her jumps.

 

[calica]

She is a beautiful girl. Though I do not see that it has of special that she practises skating and she is royal family.
In my country (Spain), practically all the members of the royal family practise sports and they have taken part in Olympics.

 

[bekalc]

She's not just the Granddaughter of the Emperor... Given the succession laws in Japan, if the Crown Prince doesn't have a son (he has a daughter Aiko) her father and then her baby brother Hisahito will be the future Emperor.

 

[Wrlmy]

She's not just the Granddaughter of the Emperor... Given the succession laws in Japan, if the Crown Prince doesn't have a son (he has a daughter Aiko) her father and then her baby brother Hisahito will be the future Emperor.

Whatsoever, she would remain princess in any case lol. Unless everyone else dies, she would never be the queen Let's see if she can become the "ice queen".

 

[PolymerBob]

I'm not Japanese, but I have a pretty good idea of what "san" means. I even have a good handle on "chan", but what is "sama"?

 

[Wrlmy]

I'm not Japanese, but I have a pretty good idea of what "san" means. I even have a good handle on "chan", but what is "sama"?

Sama is an extremely respectful version of "san" saved only for the royal family and God. I, being a half-Japanese with a limited exposure to Japanese language, once referred to the Emperor as "tenno san", and my mother almost flipped up and down lol.

 

[Bennett]

Sama is an extremely respectful version of "san" saved only for the royal family and God.

I don't think it extremely polite, just more formal and more polite than "san". Basically, people on the equal footing would use "san". "Sama" is used either in hierarchical relationships or in formal relationships. For example, every customer is called with "sama" by service representatives in department stores. They would call you "Okyaku-sama (meaning "guest + sama") when they don't know your name and they change it to "your name + sama" when they get to know your name. In contrast, in a casual store like a small local grocery store, you would be perhaps called, "Okyaku-san" (guest-san)". Patients are now called, "Kanja-sama (patient + sama)," instead of "Kanja-san (patient-san)," with an increased awareness of patient rights and cooperatization of health care. Transportation services also usually use "guest-sama" to address to their passengers. Also you NEVER fail to put "sama" to the name of the other person on the envelope of a letter however close you are to the other person (of course, not in the text of the letter if you are friends). The only exceptional usages that I could think of are "Dr. XX" or "some other job title" + name.

I, being a half-Japanese with a limited exposure to Japanese language, once referred to the Emperor as "tenno san", and my mother almost flipped up and down lol.

I heard that in the past at the rise of democracy after WWII, some of the journalists would address the prince (the current emperor) with "san" in their interviews (of course not always) instead of using "Your (Imperial) Highness".

 

[Wrlmy]

Oops I forgot about "okyakusama" lol. I got called okyakusama several times at department store. Still, I'm kinda allergic to being called or calling someone "sama". I know it shows respect and politeness, but I probably just do not grasp the concept of hierarchy.

 

[bekalc]

Whatsoever, she would remain princess in any case lol. Unless everyone else dies, she would never be the queen Let's see if she can become the "ice queen".

Not necessarily as of right now when she marries, she's no longer a Princess. LOL! But Queen of the Ice is funny..