Democracy

To England went His Royal Highness Prince Chichibu-no-miya Yasuhito, second son of the Emperor and Empress. The object of the Prince's visit is to study social science at Oxford and the London School of Economics.

This is the first time in the history of Japan that a son of an Emperor has ever sought learning in a foreign land, although numbers of the aristocracy have recently done so.

For centuries, the Royal Family was relegated to complete seclusion by the powerful shoguns. Never did an Emperor appear outside the four walls of his palace and it was a crime to look upon him, so sacred was his person. With the Emperor Meiji, all that was changed and, for the first time in probably a thousand years, an Emperor spoke face to face with his subjects. Today, matters have progressed still farther and the Prince Regent, Hirohito, has gone far to democratize the Royal Family.