Japan’s Imperial Household Agency Employee Accused of Stealing ¥3.6 Million from Imperial Family

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:25 JST, May 2, 2025

The Imperial Household Agency has reported a suspected theft from the personal expenses fund of the Emperor and his family by an agency employee to the Imperial Guard Headquarters.

The employee who is in their 20s was dismissed in disgrace from their role, the agency announced on Thursday.

According to the announcement, the employee stole a total of ¥3.6 million from an agency office on the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on multiple occasions from November 2023 to March this year, when the employee was a chamberlain supporting the Imperial family.

The employee told the agency, “I was in need of money and used [the stolen money] for my living expenses.” It appears that the suspect stole from tens of thousands of yen to hundreds of thousands of yen while on night duty.

Due to the inadequate management of the cash, another chamberlain in their 40s was reprimanded by the agency with a one-month pay cut of 10%.

It is believed this is the first time that a theft of the Imperial family’s personal expenses has been exposed.

“It is highly inappropriate behavior for an Imperial Household Agency employee and very regrettable. We will work on preventing a recurrence of such an incident,” said Yasuhiko Nishimura, the grand steward of the agency, in a statement.