日本愛子公主在校受男生驚嚇不願上學
Japan's imperial palace said Friday a grandchild of the emperor had skipped school after suffering from anxiety over "the wild behaviour of a few boys," but denied she had been bullied.
A palace official said Princess Aiko, granddaughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko and daughter of Crown Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako, did not attend schoolthis week because of "a strong stomach-ache and anxiety."
She developed the symptoms "after confronting the wild behaviour of a few boys," said Imperial Household Agency official Issei Nomura.
However, he denied that the boys had bullied her.
"The school is taking countermeasures. No particular child has been bullied. And so it is not a case of bullying," he said.
The princess had not attended classes since Tuesday, according to an official at the Gakushuin primary school, the alma mater for most Japanese royals.
"Presumably, Her Highness Princess Aiko was reminded of a past event in which she was frightened by two boys running toward her highness," said Motomasa Higashisono, the school's executive director.
"The boys did not directly collide with Her Highness Aiko," he said.
Aiko's birth in December 2001 after seven years of marriage between Naruhito and US-educated former diplomat Masako sparked heated debate on a possible change to the modern imperial family's code, which allows male-only succession.
The crisis was resolved in September 2006 when Princess Kiko, the wife of Naruhito's younger brother, Akishino, gave birth to the imperial family's first male heir in four decades.
Crown Princess Masako has struggled to adjust to royal life, having skipped most public duties over the past five years with the exception of appearing at few public functions in Japan with her husband.
日本皇室上週五稱，日本天皇的孫女愛子公主因同校“幾名男生的粗野行爲”讓她感到不安而“翹課”幾日，但否認愛子受到欺負。
日本皇室一名官員稱，明仁天皇和美智子皇后的孫女、皇太子德仁和皇太子妃雅子的女兒愛子公主上週因“腹痛嚴重、精神緊張”，一直沒有去上學。
日本宮內廳官員野村一成稱，愛子在遭遇同校“幾名男生的粗野行爲”後出現了上述症狀。
但他否認愛子受到這幾名男生的欺負。
他說：“學校正採取應對措施。沒有哪個孩子受到欺負。所以這不是一起欺侮同學的事件。”
學習院小學的一名官員稱，從上週二起，愛子公主一直沒有去上學。學習院小學是日本多數皇室成員就讀的學校。
學習院常務校長東園基政說：“大概是當時的情況讓愛子公主想起了之前發生的一件事，此前愛子曾因學校的兩名男生突然朝她跑過來而受到驚嚇。”
他說：“這兩名男生並沒有直接撞到愛子公主。”
愛子公主出生於2001年12月，當時日本皇太子德仁和曾留學美國的日本前外交官雅子已結婚七年。愛子的出生一度引起有關修改現代皇室典範的熱議。根據目前的皇位繼承規則，只有男性才能繼承皇位。
直到2006年9月，皇太子德仁的弟弟文仁親王的妻子紀子王妃生下皇室40年來的首位男性繼承人，這一“危機”才得以化解。
在過去五年中，皇太子妃雅子一直努力適應皇室生活。除了陪同丈夫出席少數公衆活動外，她很少在公共場合露面。
Vocabulary:
countermeasure: an opposing, offsetting, or retaliatory measure（對策）
alma mater: a school, college, or university at which one has studied and, usually, from which one has graduated（母校）
