News of the year 2025; Princess Aiko and the duck!

Various TV channels in Japan have been counting down or talking about the biggest or most popular new stories of the year 2025. One of the stories that made it into the top 20 and I found endearing was that of Princess Aiko and the duck!

Princess Aiko is the daughter of the Emperor of Japan. This year she participated in a traditional imperial event 'komaba'. "Komaba". "Komaba" is a winter event where members of the imperial family, like Princess Aiko, host foreign diplomats for a ceremonial, non-lethal hunt using large nets. Using the large nets they catch ducks gently and then release them. 

At this year's event when it came time to release the ducks, the first one Princess Aiko tried to release didn't cooperate. When was let it go, from her gentle hand hold on it, it didn't fly off like they usually do. Instead it lay there at her feet. As one of the organizers said, the duck evidently didn't want to leave Princess Aiko's side! They brought her another duck though, and it did what it was supposed to - fly off when she released it!