Princess Sayako, Emperor Akihito’s daughter, is going to be married this fall. Since her husband-to-be is a commoner, she will lose her royal status. But for all that she will ostensibly be losing, Sayako, who is 36, will be gaining the privilege to do some things she’s never done before. These include getting a drivers’ license, having the right to vote, having a last name, getting her own telephone, and going shopping for herself.

Here is an official’s explanation as reported by Reuters on the difficulties presented by a member of the Japanese Imperial family getting a driver’s license:

“In general, members of the Imperial Family, such as the Emperor, do not drive outside the palace grounds because they might cause bother for the public,” said a spokesman for the Imperial Household Agency. Providing security for royals on wheels would also be a problem, he added.

To put that less diplomatically, it’s not that their driving would bother the public, it’s that the response by others to their driving that would bother the public. The Japanese media is among the world’s most tenacious and obnoxious, and the number of useless people assigned to follow the royal family wherever they go would soar from the current horde to an unmanageable mob tailing the unfortunate driver even on the most mundane of errands.

The article reports that Sayako is learning on the palace grounds. Most Japanese go to a driving school before getting their license, but that would be unimaginable for the Emperor’s immediate family, no matter how much they might enjoy mingling with the common folk. The media would camp out in tree houses to film every second the princess spent behind the wheel and broadcast it endlessly on television, with groups of self-proclaimed experts and third-rate showbiz personalities commenting on her skills when shifting from first gear into second.

She will not be the first among her siblings to get a driver’s license, however. The first was her older brother, Prince Akishino (also widely known as The One Who Doesn’t Comb His Hair; see photo below). Akishino fancied himself quite the lad, and in his younger days used to tool around Tokyo in a yellow Volkswagen beetle. (The choice of a foreign car is significant; he couldn’t drive a Japanese car and therefore seem to favor one domestic automaker over another.) Akishino was filmed taking his father, the Emperor, for a spin.

Commonplace stuff for most people, but this was a bold new step for the Japanese Imperial family. It is difficult to comprehend their lack of personal freedom. Emperor Akihito was adamant that he wanted to be involved with his wife, the Empress, in rearing their children. He, as his ancestors before him, seldom saw his parents growing up, as he was essentially raised by palace functionaries. Akihito made a point when playing with his children of letting them jump off the lower step of an exterior staircase to the ground. He had not been allowed to play games like that for fear that he might get injured, and he certainly wasn’t allowed any time for frivolities with his father. Nevertheless, his son and heir, Crown Prince Naruhito, likely isn’t allowed to drive as his brother and sister are.

The Imperial Household Agency, part of the Japanese government, controls every aspect of the public life of the Imperial family, and a large part of their private life. The agency determines how their time is spent in official duties, where they go, what they wear, who they see, and, for the most part, what they say. This is exacerbated by the conservative and secretive nature of the agency and its members. One look at their mugs and you can see the little cartoon balloons sprouting over their heads containing the words, “You can’t do that.”

Crown Prince Naruhito caused a tsunami last year when he hijacked a press conference, usually a dull affair, to complain that his wife Masako wasn’t permitted by the Imperial Household Agency to take a more active role in promoting Japan overseas. (Before her marriage she worked in the Foreign Ministry; she also speaks several languages.) As most public statements from the Imperial family are the very definition of bland, Naruhito’s open criticism of the Agency was almost shocking and was dissected in detail by the mass media. It definitely shocked his parents, the Emperor and Empress, because he hadn’t discussed it with them beforehand. Father and son have some difficulty communicating, regardless of how well they get along; they have to make appointments in advance to see each other, and they just can’t pick up the phone and call because they don’t have personal telephones.

The members of the Imperial family themselves would like to lead a more modern lifestyle, and many Japanese share their wish. The distance they have to travel to approach the modern age must seem enormous to them, however, as they deal with constraints that are tantamount to confinement in a Medieval dungeon. Here’s hoping that Sayako will adjust to her new status as a commoner with a minimum of fuss and thrive–and drive–in relative anonymity. While she might be losing her royal status, she just might be gaining her life.