Arrival at Merton

On 4 October I left Counsellor Fuji's house to spend two years at Merton; my feelings were a mixture of anticipation and anxiety about the new life I was beginning. Perhaps it was due to the nervousness which I felt, but the brief fifteen minutes it took by car from the Fujis’ house, where I had slept the previous night, to Merton seemed particularly long. The sounds of the vehicles passing along the cobbled streets, which always used to please me, sounded oppressive that day.

Sir Rex Richards, the warden, whom I had already met during my stay in London, was there to greet me in front of the college gates. I was immediately asked, as is the custom at Oxford, to sign the register of new students which was presented to me at the porter's lodge. I was so nervous that my hand holding the pen shook and when I wrote my name Naruhito in roman letters my writing looked quite awful. This was the first official action of my stay at Oxford.

Having signed the register and received the key of my room the warden introduced me to two other students. One of them was the chairman of the Middle Common Room to which, as a graduate student, I would belong. The other was the chairman of the Junior Common Room, to which undergraduates belong. The chairman of the Middle Common Room was an American called J. He was tall and, at close range, his face, on which a magnificent beard sprouted, looked rather off-putting. He was a very gloomy-looking person, but his eyes showed that he was also gentle and kind. On the other hand, the chairman of the Junior Common Room was an English girl called M who had a very pretty face.

In the Front Quad I met representatives of the English and Japanese media. I was asked various questions by the representative of a local radio station, but the only question I can now remember was ‘Do you want to join in all student activities including going to the pub?’ I replied in words which I intended to mean that I probably would want to do so. Sir Rex interposed and said: ‘As the Prince has only just arrived and is nervous, the questioning should now stop’ and the meeting with the media was brought to a close.