NETHERLANDS: Expat Japanese welcome news that Princess Masako, Crown Prince Naruhito and their daughter are coming to visit Dutch royals

Record ID: 465030

  • Title: NETHERLANDS: Expat Japanese welcome news that Princess Masako, Crown Prince Naruhito and their daughter are coming to visit Dutch royals
  • Date: 18th August 2006
  • Summary: (BN14) AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS (AUGUST 17, 2006)(REUTERS) VARIOUS OF JAPANESE NEIGHBOURHOOD JAPANESE WOMAN WITH CHILDREN ENTERS JAPANESE SHOP SOUNDBITE (Japanese) UNIDENTIFIED SHOPPER SAYING: "This is a place where time goes by slowly, so I hope she (Princess Masako) gets plenty of rest and returns to do well in Japan." JAPANESE PEOPLE SHOPPING SOUNDBITE (Japanese), MRS. KUROHARA, HOUSEWIFE, SAYING: "Her mother and father are here and the fact that she can spend some time far away from Japan is a good thing...I think that she will be left undisturbed here." JAPANESE FAMILY WITH BAGS FULL OF GROCERIES SOUNDBITE (Japanese), MISTER YAMAMOTO, JAPANESE SHOP MANAGER, SAYING: "I didn't know she ( Princess Masako) was coming today, but I knew that the trip had been planned." VARIOUS OF JAPANESE LUNCHROOM SOUNDBITE (Japanese) JAPANESE EXPAT MISTER KANEKO SAYING: "I hope that her stay here will help her illness in some way." CUSTOMER AT THE COUNTER, PAYING HIS LUNCH TOTO-YA LUNCHROOM AND CUSTOMERS EATING BEHIND THE GLASS WINDOW
  • Embargoed: 2nd September 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Netherlands
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Topics: International Relations,Royalty
  • Reuters ID: LVA3FEBRCX9SJOHPH7SOODHSSZNM
  • Story Text: Japanese Princess Masako, her daughter Aiko and husband Crown Prince Naruhito were scheduled to visit visit Dutch royal family at their 300-years old castle Palais Het Loo near by Apeldoorn in central Netherlands from Thursday (August 17).
    A small expat community lives in the south suburb of Amsterdam, where its members can buy Japanese food products, hair products, manga movies and eat home-made Japanese lunches at the local lunchroom.
    "This is a place where time goes by slowly, so I hope she (Princess Masako) gets plenty of rest and returns to do well in Japan," a Japanese mother of two girls said to Reuters on Thursday.
    While eating his lunch, Japanese expat, who identified himself as Mr Kaneko, said: "I hope that her stay here will help her illness in some way."
    Nobody wanted to comment on the nature of Princess Masako's illness, but they all hoped she would get better.
    Forty-two-year-old Masako has largely shunned her public duties for more than two years due to a mental illness caused by the stresses of royal life, including pressure to bear a male heir.
    Masako has one daughter, four-year-old Aiko, but only males can inherit the throne by law. The last royal male born was Prince Akishino, the emperor's younger son and Kiko's husband, in 1965.
    The Japanese royals are staying in the Netherlands until August 31, when they will return to Japan.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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