Princess Mako’s husband Kei Komuro steps out in New York after taking bar exam

Former Princess Mako’s husband Kei Komuro cut a sombre figure as he was pictured following his second attempt at the New York State Bar Exam  today.  

Mako, eldest daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito and niece of reigning Emperor Naruhito, gave up her royal title to marry ‘commoner’ Komuro last year in a small civil ceremony. 

The couple, who were engaged for eight years before tying the knot, have since moved to a one-bedroom apartment in New York, where Komuro works at  New-Jersey based firm Lowenstein Sandler LLP.

He was spotted today calling an Uber outside a test centre following the exam – which he took for the first time in summer last year but failed. 

The lawyer was spotted today calling an Uber outside a test centre following the exam – which he took for the first time in summer last year but failed

According to Japanese broadcaster NHK, Komuro phoned lawyer Okuno Yoshihiko, the head of a firm in Japan where he previously worked, to tell him he failed the exam. 

The results of 2021’s exam were posted on the website of the New York State Board of Law Examiners last November. Komuro’s name was not among the successful candidates.   

Komuro was raised by his widowed mother, Kayo. His father died when he was still in elementary school. His jobs in Japan included working in a bank and a French restaurant.

He met Mako in 2013 when they were both studying at the International Christian University outside Tokyo.  

Komuro and the former moved to a one-bedroom apartment in New York, where Komuro works as a lawyer at New-Jersey based firm Lowenstein Sandler LLP

The couple, both now 30, got ‘unofficially engaged’ in 2017, and planned to tie the knot in November 2018.

Initially the news was greeted with delight in Japan, but then a scandal grew up when it was discovered that Kayo had not repaid a 4million yen ($35,000) loan from a former fiancé, partly to pay her son’s tuition. 

That led critics to suggest Komuro was only marrying the princess for money or fame.

Komuro issued a 24-page explanation about the money – claiming it was a gift not a loan. Eventually he said he would repay it, although it is not known whether the money has been returned. 

But despite the turmoil Kei and Mako’s love endured. In 2020, the former Princess begged the Japanese public to support her decision. 

‘We are irreplaceable to each other – someone to rely on during both happy and unhappy times,’ she said, announcing the wedding would go ahead.

‘So a marriage is a necessary choice for us to live while cherishing and protecting our feelings.’ 

Komuro has not lived in Japan for three years – moving to New York shortly after their marriage was postponed for the first time. 

He studied law at Fordham University in the Bronx and then landing a job clerking at Lowenstein Sandler in Manhattan, counseling companies and investors on venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions. 

Only male members of the Japanese imperial family are allowed to marry ‘commoners, so Mako’s decision to marry for love means a whole slew of new things for her.

For a start, she is no longer considered a princess – even if the marriage ends in divorce she can never return to the family.

For the first time in her life she has a surname and will be known just as Mako Komuro. 

She will also have to apply for a passport – royals don’t need them – so she can move Stateside.

She can no longer live in the Imperial Palace. And any sons the couple have will not be in the line of succession for the male-only emperorship.

And that is a potential problem in Japan where there are now only three people allowed by the Imperial Household Law to succeed 61-year-old Emperor Naruhito – and one of those, his uncle Masohito, is 85.   

The other two are Nauruhito’s 55-year-old brother Akishino – Mako’s father – and Mako’s brother Hisahito, 15.