Kei Komuro, Husband of Former Japanese Princess, Passes the New York Bar Exam

When Princess Mako, the eldest daughter of Japan's Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, decided to marry Kei Komuro, a commoner, she gave up her royal status. After their wedding, the two moved from Tokyo to New York City, and Komuro began working at a law firm upon his graduation from Fordham University School of Law.

In October 2022, Komuro passed the New York State Bar Exam on his third attempt—allowing him to practice as a lawyer in New York. Here, everything you need to know about Kei Komuro:

He grew up outside Tokyo.

Komuro's father died when he was in elementary school, so he was primarily raised by his mother, Kayo. During his engagement to the princess, a financial dispute between Kayo and her former fiancé over $35,000 came to light.

He once promoted tourism to Shōnan beaches.

He starred in a beach tourism campaign for Fujisawa, where he was selected as the "Prince of the Sea" in 2010. His profile shared his hobbies included violin, cooking, and skiing.

"I remember him as a prince-like person," Rina Namikawa, who served as the "Princess of the Sea" for Fujisawa with Komuro, told Kyodo News. "He was rigorously studying about the city of Fujisawa. He was fluent in English and was helpful."

Komuro also worked at a French restaurant and a "cram" school. "He was a gentle, good-looking and confident man. I felt he was different from other students," Kenji Goi, the owner of the restaurant, told Kyodo News.

Princess Mako met Komuro while they were students at Tokyo's International Christian University.

The two are the same age; they met in 2012 while studying at university. Komuro reportedly proposed in 2013 over dinner, but they did not announce their engagement until 2017.

Initially, the two were set to marry in 2018, but they postponed their wedding until 2020. In 2020, they postponed their nuptials again. "For us, marriage is a necessary choice to live and honor our hearts," the two said in joint statement upon their second postponement. "We are irreplaceable to each other and we can lean on each other in happy and unhappy times. It is still difficult to announce anything specific regarding our future plans at this time, but we will consult with our families in order to proceed."

The two finally married in October 2021; upon their wedding, Mako declined her dowry of around $1.4 million—the first female imperial family member to do so since World War II.

Komuro works as a lawyer.

After graduating from International Christian University in 2014, Komuro attended
Hitotsubashi University Graduate School in Tokyo, where he earned a M.B.L. degree. From there, he attended Fordham University School of Law, earning his law degree in 2019. He took the bar exam three times, finally passing in October 2022.

He currently works at Lowenstein Sandler as a law clerk in the corporate and tech groups. Per his bio on the firm's website, "Kei counsels entrepreneurs, emerging companies, and investors on venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, entity formation, and general corporate matters. He has experience working in Tokyo at both a law firm and a foreign exchange bank where, as a certified securities broker representative, he provided loan and foreign exchange services and prepared financial analyses for non-Japanese corporate clients."

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