Japan’s royal family has just started using Instagram. Their official account was created on Monday, but it's not going to have any casual self-portraits. It's a careful first step into social media for the ancient monarchy.
The initial 19 posts show Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako conducting official royal duties at recent public events, in formally arranged photos and videos.
Despite this, over 160,000 users have followed the Imperial Household Agency (IHA) account. It was announced a week ago, but it was private until Monday.
The Japanese monarchy has mythical beginnings going back over two thousand years, and it's not allowed to criticize the emperor publicly in the country.
The institution hopes to generate interest among younger generations in what the imperial family does by using social media, as confirmed by an IHA spokesperson to AFP.
However, the posts under the Instagram handle kunaicho_jp don't contain any insider information, as expected.
The posts have strictly factual captions explaining the emperor's activities on different days, like meeting foreign dignitaries or admiring bonsai trees. Comments are monitored.
The account doesn't follow any other users and has not yet used Instagram Stories.
“The IHA is on Instagram! I thought it was an April Fools’ prank!” one user reacted to the launch.
“When I heard the IHA created an Instagram account, I quickly checked it out. But of course the emperor wouldn’t post ‘today’s lunch (heart emoji)’ or anything like that,” wrote another.
Some users joked that it's good the royals picked the more “civilised” Instagram over X, which used to be Twitter.
Naruhito became Emperor in 2019 in a ceremony full of tradition after his very popular father abdicated, being the first emperor to do so in over two centuries.
Other royal families, including Britain’s, have created social media accounts, and recently there have been many rumors and conspiracy theories about them.
The palace released a manipulated family photo to the media, leading to online speculation about the whereabouts of Catherine, Princess of Wales, who later revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer.
Agence France-Presse
