Imperial Household Agency Launches Public Relations Office

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:44 JST, April 1, 2023

The Imperial Household Agency on Saturday launched a new public relations office, part of its efforts to keep the public better informed about the Imperial family.

The new office will employ a person from the private sector with extensive experience in public relations and explore ways of communicating information that brings the Imperial Household closer to the public.

The public relations office was established within the General Affairs Division and has nine staff members. A career bureaucrat in the National Police Agency was appointed as the first head of the office.

According to sources close to the agency, the office plans to add the person from the private sector and adopt private-sector methods by around summer.

With the slanderous negativity that appeared in weekly magazines and on social media surrounding the marriage of former Princess Mako to Kei Komuro in mind, the public relations office will increase publicity of the activities and personalities of the Imperial Household.

Specifically, the office will conduct research and analysis to identify areas for improvement ahead of a major redesign of the Imperial Household Agency’s website.

The agency will also consider ways of providing information through social media, but will be cautious when it comes to information dispersed directly from Imperial family members.

“We will try to provide information on the activities and personalities of the members of the Imperial family in a more substantial and timely manner than before,” Yasuhiko Nishimura, the grand steward of the agency, said at a regular press conference on March 23.