Prince Hisahito
Plagiarism allegations against Crown Prince Akishino’s son
Crown Prince Akishino, Crown Princess Kiko of Akishino and Prince Hisahito
© Dana Press
Prince Hisahito copied several sentences from a travel guide for his renowned essay. The Imperial Court Office has already acknowledged the “incorrect” passages.
In March 2021, Prince Hisahito, 15, was awarded second place in a young adult literary competition for his travelogue submission. Now it turns out, however, that Hisahito cheated. Crown Prince Akishino’s son, 56, is said to have copied several sentences from a travel guide. The coincidences were first noticed by the Japanese magazine “Asahi Shimbun”, which confronted the palace with it. The Japanese medium had written in a dossier about the intellectual theft and accused the young royal that parts of his essay were “very heavily based on an unnamed source”. Now the press department of the imperial family has commented on the allegations of plagiarism.
Prince Hisahito’s “list of references” was inadequate
Japan’s imperial family admits in an official statement that “the description of the prince’s list of references was insufficient.” It is also said that Hisahito will revise his essay and will have to check whether he has withheld further sources.
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Hisahito wrote about his visit to the Ogasawara Islands in the said essay. The Royal had explored this together with Crown Princess Kiko von Akishino, 55, in his childhood. A total of 97 essays were submitted to the literary competition. As the press office of the Imperial House further explains, the 15-year-old will contact those responsible for the literary prize and submit his amended version later. It is not known whether he will have to give up his award for second place, which he received in a virtual awards ceremony.
Prince Hisahito surprises by changing schools
Ex-Princess Mako’s brother, 30, dominated the media landscape a few days ago with another piece of news. As “Japan Times” reports, the future heir to the throne will not attend a private school, but will go to a public high school from April. In doing so, Hisahito breaks the tradition of the imperial family. He is the first royal family member to enroll in a high school unaffiliated with Gakushuin University.
However, the change of school and the plagiarism allegations are not related. Hisahito has to drop out of Ochanomizu University Junior High School because the high school is set up as an all-girls school.
Sources used: royalcentral.co.uk, japantimes.co.jp