Princess Mako's fiance-to-be lists playing the violin as one of his hobbies, and has one person particularly delighted at his continued passion for the instrument — his childhood violin teacher.
"He was a student who diligently worked hard" at the violin, Junko Yamauchi, 66, said of Kei Komuro, who attended her violin school in Yokohama from age 3 to the upper years of elementary school.
Komuro, a 25-year-old paralegal, was thrust into the limelight after news broke late Tuesday about his planned engagement with Princess Mako, also 25. She is the eldest grandchild of Emperor Akihito.