"The values of the imperial family are not part of the equation," says Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian Studies for Temple University's Japan campus.

“皇室家族的价值并不是均等的”，坦普尔大学日本分校亚洲研究主管杰弗里·金士顿表示。

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The public reaction to the affair reinforces how beleaguered these days are Japan's history-deniers, says Jeffrey Kingston, a historian of Asia at Temple University in Tokyo.

ECONOMIST: Japan and its history

Indeed, as Jeffrey Kingston of America's Temple University in Tokyo points out, Akihito has taken other actions to distance the monarchy from nationalists keen to refashion Japan's identity around the throne.

ECONOMIST: Japan