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Japan’s royal family opens Instagram account
Over 450,000 people have already signed up to follow the account since it became public on Monday.
Japan's Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, poses for the media on the grounds of Gakushuin University as she attends her graduation ceremony, in the Mejiro area of Tokyo on March 20, 2024. RICHARD A. BROOKS/Pool via REUTERS
Japan’s royal family has joined Instagram, releasing a flurry of posts on Monday and quickly acquiring nearly half a million followers.
The first post on @kunaicho_jp (the name for the Imperial Household Agency in Japanese) showed Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako sitting on a sofa with their 22-year-old daughter Princess Aiko, smiling as they marked New Year’s Day.
The most recent, published on Tuesday, showed the royal couple visiting areas in the Noto Peninsula that were hit by January’s earthquake.
The account was announced last week
The launch of the account was announced last week and set to private until it went live on Monday.
The Imperial Household Agency said that the account was part of an attempt to give the public a better understanding of the family’s official duties and that Instagram was chosen because of its popularity among young people.
The Japanese monarchy has mythological origins stretching back more than two millennia and any public criticism of the emperor remains taboo in the country.
The Instagram posts remain highly formal, however, with no private or candid moments.
The captions are also strictly factual and there is no opportunity for the public to engage – followers can only “like” posts and cannot comment.
Those who want to send messages to the imperial family have to use the official website.
The account does not follow any users
People say it’s nice they get to see a bit of their activities because they hardly know what the royal family is doing.
The account does not follow any other users.
Naruhito ascended the Chrysanthemum throne in 2019 in a traditional ceremony after his popular father became the first emperor to abdicate in more than two centuries.
Other royal families around the world run active social media accounts, including the monarchies of Denmark, Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
Japan’s palace officials last year set up a team of experts to study the effects of using social media on the imperial family amid caution after a media backlash against the Emperor’s niece Mako Komuro and her commoner husband caused the marriage to be delayed. At the time, the former princess said she suffered psychological trauma because of the media bashing, including comments online.
