Japanese Princess gives up her royal status to marry a 'Beach' Worker

A Japanese princess will give up her royal status when she marries a beach tourism worker she met in a restaurant.

Princess Mako, the granddaughter of Japan's emperor, is getting married to ocean lover Kei Komuro who can ski, play the violin and cook, it has been claimed.

The man who won the princess' heart, was a fellow student at International Christian University in Tokyo, where Princess Mako, 25, also graduated. 

Once they say 'I do', she will lose her status - despite being Emperor Akihito's granddaughter - as Japanese tradition dictates and become a commoner. 

They met at a restaurant in Tokyo's Shibuya about five years ago at a party to talk about studying abroad, and have been seeing more of each other in recent months. 

Komuro has worked as 'Prince of the Sea' to promote tourism to the beaches of Shonan in Kanagawa prefecture, a report on public broadcaster NHK said.

Women can't succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in Japan. 

Mako's father and her younger brother are in line to succeed Emperor Akihito.

But the process building up to the wedding is likely to take some time and be full of ritual, as Japanese nuptials, especially royal ones, tend to be.

First there will be an announcement, the equivalent of an engagement, and then a date for the wedding will be picked when the couple will make a formal report to the emperor and empress.

NHK said Mako has already introduced Komuro to her parents, and they approve.

Unlike royalty in Great Britain and other European countries, the emperor and his family tend to kept away from the public eye, although they travel abroad and appear at cultural events.

Therefore, little is known of the princess other than she was a student at the International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo in April 2010. 

In doing so, she became the first member of the Japanese imperial family to attend university, according to Mainichi. 

As part of her arts and cultural property studies, she attended the University of Edinburgh in Scotland on an exchange. 

Having finished at ICU, Princess Make returned to Britain where she gained a masters in art museum and gallery studies from the University of Leicester in January 2016.

She is currently working as an affiliate researcher the University Museum of the University of Tokyo whilst combining a doctorate programme at ICU.