木村：皇太子殿下の結婚の儀もいよいよ数日後にせまりましたね。
記者：そうですね。結婚の儀、そして6日後の饗宴の儀に関してはたくさんの裏話がありましてね。
木村：へえ、どんな裏話ですか。
Urabanashi
Kimura: Kootaishi-denka no kekkon no gi mo iyoiyo suujitsu go ni semari mashita ne.
Kisha: Soo desu ne. Kekkon no gi, soshite muikago no kyooen no gi ni kanshite wa takusan no urabanashiga arimashite ne.
Kimura: Hee, donna urabanashi desu ka.
Kimura: The crown prince's wedding day will soon be upon us.
Reporter: Yes, the wedding and then six days later the Court Banquet will be held. I've got a lot of inside stories on these events.
Kimura: Really? What inside stories?
Urabanashi means the inside story, the story behind the story.
The crown prince and Masako Owada get married this week and I don't think it's too much to say that the mass media's extensive coverage of their engagement has provided a happy respite from the rather bleak news usually filling the papers. It's also quite a happy fact that Japan's royal family has been free from the kind of scandals that have plagued royals in other countries.
Igirisu no ooshitsu no urabanashi ga, shimbun ni denai hi wa nai (Hardly a day goes by without some inside story concerning Britain's royal family turning up in the papers). I can't help but sympathize with the British royal family members- they are forever pursued by reporters hoping for a compromising sound bite or embarrassing photos.
With regard to Japan's imperial family, Watashi wa kudaranai urabanashi wo, mimi ni shita koto ga nai (I've never caught wind of any trashy untold part of story). I suspect one reason for the absence ofJapan's royal scandals has to do with the way the Imperial Household Agency keeps close tabs on everything the rovals do.
The other day I ran into a reporter friend who covers the royal family. You can imagine how curious I became when he said, "Sotto urabanashi wo oshiemasho ka" (Shall I let you in on some really juicy inside news?). Urabanashi ni kyoomi no nai hito wa inai daro (Everyone's interested when it comes to hearing inside stories).
"Really? What? Tell me." I pleaded. And so he filled me in. For better or worse, however, what he had to say wasn't much of an inside story. In fact, it's not even worth writing about in this column.