Thank you for your answer, Prisma, and please accept my apologies for coming back so late.
If the IHA did a background check, I fail to understand why the agency would let the money dispute remain unresolved and let this mess happen.
I do not think that the money issue could have been discovered by a background check. As you say, „Even if a background check was conducted, the matter wouldn't necessarily be found since there's no court/public record.“
I don't think the IHA is united in advancing female-led miyake. Certainly, whichever faction leaked Mako's engagement plans in 2017 revived the conversation but ultimately Mako (and Ayako surprisingly) left the Imperial family anyway. No doubt there are traditionalists within the IHA who still frown upon the abdication and Mako's marriage/partner.
I agree in that there are several factions in the IHA. But I also think that the emperor has a lot of influence on what they do. Usually, it is left to anybody´s guess what his opinions and goals are. But in this case I found it rather obvious that then Emperor Akihito wanted to see the issue of imperial workload solved before he stepped down. At the time, his abdication was discussed in the media along with the question of the status of female imperial family members. We know that the emperor was behind at least the idea of abdication because he had to go so far as to publicly say so. But it doesn´t seem a stretch to assume that he also wished for a solution to the problem of the shrinking imperial family.
The overwhelming public pressure finally forced the government to take at least the abdication issue seriously. They put off the debate on female-led miyake, though, because nobody wants to take responsibility for tackling the controversial succession issue.
As I have said before it was my impression that Mako´s engagement was made public at the time because the emperor and the empress hoped that the romantic love story might also serve to enhance public pressure to further female-led miyake. In my opinion, that was a very good strategy, in fact, the best possible. But as soon as the ex-fiancé came forward, they knew that it was over, not so much because of the money issue but because the ex-fiancé had the indecency of talking to the press. Independent of Kei´s personal responsibility or knowledge in the money matter, I think they decided that with this sort of „stepfather“ he could not become an imperial family member. And I think that they were, unfortunately, right on this one.
If a royal has a close relative or friend who is willing to talk to the media that is generally a permanent pr nightmare because you know they might talk to the press again and again as long as they live and there is nothing you can do about it. (It does not matter if it is true or false what they say as long as it makes for a good story or at least a clickbait headline). But the situation for Mako would have been even worse than for your „average royal“ because Japanese traditionalists, for fear of a female-line emperor, would have done everything in their power to attack a princess who kept her imperial status, along with her husband. Kei - because of the talkative ex-fiancé - would have been an easy target for them. (Actually, he was/is an easy target.) So I think that at the time Mako´s parents and grandparents agreed that she was needed in the family and that she would inevitably have to give up Komuro. They probably did not tell her so directly because that is not the Asian way but they
acted accordingly: instead of remaining neutral and just wait, they made things worse for Komuro by criticizing him for not having forewarned them (Empress Michiko), by asking for an explanation (Akishino) and by preventing Mako from defending him. Considering that Japanese royals usually serenely ignore all disagreeable issues and have all the instruments for doing so (the vetting of journalists´ questions etc.) I find this quite remarkable. But it does make sense if they had decided that Mako had to give up Komuro and if they wanted to gain public understanding and applause for her sacrifice. Which imo was the case.
According to Yomuri/The Japan News, the grand steward wasn't even aware of Kei Komuro until shortly before the engagement news.
As I said I think that Mako´s engagement was meant to elicit support for princesses keeping their status, so I have a really hard time believing that they did not check Komuro´s background to some extent. But maybe they did not trust the head of the IHA with doing it. I do think that there are quite a few members of the IHA who think that the imperial family should marry only members of the old elite (Gakushuin and all that). Maybe the then head of the IHA was one of them. Or maybe he did know about Komuro and does not want to admit it now. (I am, unfortunately, too late, so I cannot read the article.)
Oh and to make this clear: I do not think that the Emperor Emeritus wants an empress regnant or the succession of an emperor through the maternal line. But he knows that Hisahito cannot do all the royal work by himself and will need his family to support him, practically as well as emotionally and that is why he wants his granddaughters to keep their status. That ship has unfortunately sailed imo if there ever has been a chance. But I do think that the Emperor Emeritus - and he, of all people, should know - is right in that a Japanese emperor who leads a very isolated and stressful life needs family support around in order to stay emotionally healthy. A distant cousin cannot offer that even if he happens to have the „right“ blood.
There was plenty of time for Mako or her parents (or family aide) to request/suggest a background check.
There was plenty of time and, as I said, I am sure they did some sort of check. But they naturally do not want to admit that now after all those tabloid stories about the suicides in Komuro´s family... They do not want to be asked why they did not stop the engagement when they got to know about that.
Again, I do not think that anyone knew about the money issue. I think that the ex-fiancé did not expect the money back when they separated because he knew too well that Kei´s mother did not have it and would not be able to pay it back anyway, and so he let it go. But when he learned that Kei would marry a princess with a huge dowry he thought that they now could have the decency of paying him his money back (which is a comparatively very small sum). I do not think that he was malicious, I just suppose that he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer and did not understand that he was ruining his own chances of getting the money back by demanding it in such a public way and thereby embarrassing the imperial family. Which led said imperial family to the conclusion that he had no manners and no decency and therefore presented an incalculable risk to them.
