Japan Prince to Wed Aspiring Diplomat

The long search ended Wednesday: Crown Prince Naruhito, 32, has picked a bride. Japan’s future empress is a Harvard University graduate and rising star in the Foreign Ministry.

Masako Owada, 29, the eldest daughter of Vice Foreign Minister Hisashi Owada, is fluent in four languages and is seen as an important asset in promoting smooth Japanese ties with the world.

The happy news dominated Japanese television Wednesday night, breaking through the pall of economic gloom that has fallen over Japan. “With this news, light has come into Japan, people will regain their will to drive forward,” said former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone with a smile.

Jubilant Japanese expressed joy and relief that the crown prince has found a mate after his well-publicized, five-year search. There was no official confirmation of the betrothal from the palace or the Foreign Ministry, although there was no doubt as to the veracity of reports.

Hundreds of reporters gathered Wednesday night outside the Owada home, a concrete, church-like structure with high arches, a sloping roof and narrow slit windows in a tony neighborhood of Tokyo.

“We were not prepared, and we don’t know what to say,” said a voice, identified as Owada’s mother, speaking through the intercom. She said her daughter would not talk to reporters because she had a cold.

Naruhito became crown prince and heir to the throne at the death of his grandfather, Hirohito, on Jan. 7, 1989, when his father became emperor at the age of 55.

Under Japan’s constitution, Naruhito’s choice of a wife must be confirmed by the Imperial Household Council, which includes the Speakers of both houses of Parliament and the chief justice of the Supreme Court. The group is expected to meet Jan. 19.

But, observers say, the Japanese government not only is sure to bless the marriage, it also probably will stage so grand a wedding that some have suggested it could even help lift the Japanese economy out of the recession. Speculation is that the wedding will be in May.

When Naruhito’s parents wed in April, 1959, it sparked a surge in television sales, and the date is considered a milestone in the rise of modern, industrial Japan.

As for the bride-to-be, she will be only the second commoner to marry a Japanese crown prince. Empress Michiko was the first when she married Akihito, now emperor and Naruhito’s father.

Owada spent much of her young life overseas. She was graduated from Belmont High School in suburban Boston before studying economics at Harvard. She entered Tokyo University’s Law Department but almost immediately passed the examination, giving her entry to the Foreign Ministry.

It is highly unusual for someone who has not attended one of Japan’s elite universities to become a career bureaucrat. But soon after she joined the Foreign Ministry in 1986, she was sent by the ministry to study international relations at Oxford University.

When Naruhito said on his return from a stint at Oxford in 1987 that he would like to be married by the time he reached 30, speculation quickly turned to Owada. She denied interest at the time, insisting she wanted to pursue a career in the Foreign Ministry.

Naruhito--who is an expert on the history of water navigation in Britain and Japan--reportedly first met Owada formally in 1986 at a reception for Princess Elena of Spain. Owada was an attendant. Their serious courtship began last October when the two met at an imperial duck hunting ground.

Some acquaintances of hers from junior high say she spent much time on interests like softball and kendo, or stylized swordplay. Yet, she always won top grades. “We used to wonder when she had the time to study,” one former girlfriend said on television. Owada has since taken up tennis and skiing.

As a member of the Foreign Ministry’s North American section, she has reportedly played a role in such key negotiations as the U.S.-Japan microchip agreement. Television stations repeatedly flashed a photo in which she appears to be translating for U.S. Trade Representative Carla Anderson Hills. In addition to Japanese and English, she speaks German and French.

Japanese newsmagazines have followed every twist and turn of the crown prince’s search for a mate. Some have suggested that a modern Japanese woman would not want to live the closeted life of an empress; they even had speculated on whether a new hairstyle for the crown prince would help him attract a bride.