1.   Instruments of torture feature somewhat incongruously alongside porcelain, glassware and fans owned by members of the imperial family.

2.   The imperial family is doing its best to put its stamp on the future princess.

3.   The imperial family, steeped in Shinto ritual, appeals to the traditionalist and nationalist Markets.

4.   And the Japanese, living in one of the most technologically advanced of Asian countries, are still captivated by the mystique of the imperial family.

5.   As the first commoner to marry into the imperial family, she battled with her mother-in-law and various other retainers from the old Japanese aristocracy.

6.   Adoption is not permitted in the imperial family, by the way, so that is not an option.

7.   But given the demands Japanese make on their imperial family, those stresses are likely to grow.

8.   But in a country where divorce is still uncommon, any kind of parting in the imperial family is unthinkable.

9.   By European standards, the imperial family is extraordinarily remote.

10.   Each act in the production designed by Bob Crowley begins by showing a curtain with a portrait of the Russian imperial family on it.