ranierean
...Boarding L'Express de Schery 🚬🚂✊
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Due to legal barriers, the marriage of Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi and Aoyama Mitsuko in 1892 had to be personally approved of by both the Vatican and the Emperor of Japan before it could proceed. Legislation restricted marriage between Japanese & westerners to a case by case basis.
Prior to their marriage, Mitsu (as she was affectionately known by her husband) was essentially a concubine. This was not uncommon for the time, and she was trained to be one, but she would note that she was treated better by Heinrich than the concubine of any Japanese man was.
The Emperor approved of the marriage rather quickly. A Japanese wife of an Austro-Hungarian diplomat was an advantage for Japanese diplomacy. The circumstances which led to the Vatican approving the marriage are not clear, but Heinrich's position as a diplomat likely helped.
Likewise, the circumstances that led to the two meeting are not clear. Family memoirs record a nice story of "love at first sight" between the daughter of the Embassy's furniture supplier, who rushed to help him after he fell from his horse.
However, it was unlikely the cobbles were as icy as the family memoirs suggest. In reality, Mitsu had been trained from youth to acquire skills suitable to be a partner. She was probably introduced for this purpose. In any case, the two were genuinely in love.
Mitsuko was very hesitant about leaving Japan for Europe, but eventually she relented. They went by boat and while in Sri Lanka she was shown their journey so far. She broke down in tears upon seeing how far away Japan, and thus her family, was.
With their young children cared for by their servants on the boat, Heinrich and Mitsu travelled extensively. They were welcomed with open arms by Indian princes in Hyderabad, and toured the Middle East from Yemen to the Levant.
In Jerusalem she obtained a small wooden crucifix that she would gift to him upon their arrival in Bohemia. He was so moved and held onto it for the rest of their life. Months later the two would be received by Pope Leo XIII, where Mitsu was personally blessed by the Pope.
She was quite unhappy with life in Europe, though she was deeply in love with her husband. The only things that brought her joy were writing home to her parents in her native tongue, and serving Heinrich devotedly.
Heinrich certainly valued love. His first love interest, a young woman named Marie, bore his child but his father refused to approve their marriage as she was a commoner. She committed suicide in the rose garden of the Coudenhove-Kalergi family estate as a result.