The man who married a former Japanese princess has passed the New York bar exam, defying detractors back home who had criticized their romance.
Kei Komuro's name is on the list of those who passed the July New York state bar exam, which was posted Friday on The New York State Board of Law Examiners website.
Komuro, 31, a graduate of Fordham University Law School, has a job at a New York law firm, and has been living in New York with Mako, a museum curator. The Japanese tabloids had stalked the couple in New York, taking snapshots and commenting snidely about Mako's casual clothes, which struck a contrast with the usual staid formal wear of Japan's imperial family.
Reports said Komuro's shaky standing will improve with the imperial family, the couple may move from Hell's Kitchen to a ritzier neighbourhood and Komuro's mom may move in with them.