Princess Akiko UK Memoir Gets Manga Adaptation

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The first volume of The Red and Blue Gown (Shinchosha), a manga adaptation of Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko of Mikasa's popular essay about her time studying in Britain, was released in March. Princess Akiko is a second cousin of Emperor Naruhito.

To mark the occasion, a talk event was held in Tokyo.

The original work was later published in paperback after going viral on X (formerly Twitter), and has since become a bestseller, with total sales reaching 430,000 copies.

Reflecting on its success, Princess Akiko said, "Even in art history, there are works that come to be appreciated only because they were preserved for posterity. To have experienced something like that myself feels almost like a dream."

A Princess in a More Personal Light

The original work, The Red and Blue Gown, is a memoir in which Princess Akiko, who earned a doctorate from the University of Oxford, reflects on the six years she spent studying in Britain, including a period as an auditing student.

It was first published in book form in 2015. But in 2023, it drew fresh attention after a Japanese woman living in Germany introduced it on X, prompting its release as a paperback.

In the memoir, Princess Akiko emerges not just as an imperial figure but as a woman living abroad, facing challenges and working to build a career as a scholar of Japanese art.

Princess Akiko of Mikasa and literary critic Kaho Miyake appear at a talk event marking the publication of the manga adaptation of The Red and Blue Gown on March 25 in Toshima Ward, Tokyo. (©Sankei by Kazuki Murashima)

At the talk event held on March 25 at Junkudo Bookstore's main Ikebukuro branch in Tokyo, Princess Akiko spoke frankly about her surprise at the sudden attention her book had received.

"One day, completely out of the blue, I got a message saying that it was going viral," she said. "I had no idea why it was happening at that particular moment, and the fact that it was someone living in Germany made it even more mysterious."

The Moving Beauty of Suggestion

Princess Akiko is said to have hoped that the manga adaptation would be drawn by Aoi Ikebe, a manga artist she praised for "portraying her characters' emotions with extraordinary depth."

That sensitivity is already striking in the first volume. Particularly memorable are the scenes depicting her first experience of living in Britain without attendants, and the loneliness she felt before making friends at university.

"She captured so beautifully the kinds of moments that, in writing, might be reduced to a single phrase like 'I was lonely' — for example, the look on my face when I turned around in the street and realized there was no attendant behind me," Princess Akiko said.

"In Japanese painting," she continued, "there is a beauty in empty space, a kind of beauty that invites the viewer to read between the lines. I felt the manga made those emotions even easier for readers to grasp."

She added, however, with a laugh, that one point required a small correction. In the original memoir, "Shioda-san," one of the attendants who appears as a distinctly human and memorable presence was initially drawn a little too attractively.

"In Ms Ikebe's first rough sketch, he was far too slim and handsome," Princess Akiko said with a smile. "I told her, 'That's not quite right,' and asked her to revise it."

A Spur to Study Abroad

Kaho Miyake, a literary critic who joined Princess Akiko for the conversation, asked how she views manga culture from the standpoint of a researcher of Japanese art.

In reply, Princess Akiko cited an exhibition at the British Museum featuring the manga Saint Young Men. She noted that it was not presented simply as an example of Japanese pop culture, but as a work that shows how Buddhism and Christianity are understood in Japan today.

"Manga is being collected not just as pop culture, but as material with genuine historical significance," she said.

Princess Akiko said she was "truly delighted" that what she had originally written as a record of her student days had, some 20 years later, taken on a new form as a manga.

"There are things you can gain only by going abroad to study and by meeting many people in person," she said, adding that she hopes younger readers as well will pick up the book.