Aka to Ao no Gown (Red and Blue Gowns: Memoirs of Studying Abroad in Oxford) (PHP Bunko)

[Machine Translation] The first female member of the royal family to receive a doctorate. The days of studying abroad written in fresh style. The first female member of the Imperial Family to receive a doctorate abroad, Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko of Akita Prefecture, Japan, studied in England. Long-awaited paperback edition! Red and blue gown. I have dreamed of one day wearing a red and blue gown ever since I started my doctoral course. During my five years of study abroad, I have seen many of my friends successfully complete their doctoral studies and leave Oxford many times. I was both proud and envious to see them emerge from the Sheldonian Theatre, where the degree conferment ceremony was held, wearing their gowns with beaming smiles on their faces. The red and blue gowns, which only those who had completed Oxford's rigorous doctoral program were allowed to wear, were the "goal" that came to mind when I felt discouraged and brought me back to the person I had been when I first came to Oxford. (Excerpt from "Afterword") I spent one year from September 2001 and five years from September 2004 at Merton College, Oxford University in the UK. This work, which describes the feelings of those days in a fresh style, includes a new "Postcards for the paperback edition".

女性皇族として初の博士号取得。瑞々しい筆致で綴られた留学の日々。女性皇族として初めて海外で博士号を取得された彬子女王殿下による英国留学記。待望の文庫化! 「赤と青のガウン。それは、私が博士課程を始めたときからいつか着る日を夢みてきたものだ。五年間の留学生活中、何人もの友人が博士課程を無事修了し、オックスフォードを旅立っていく様子を何度も見送ってきた。晴れ晴れとした表情でこのガウンを身にまとい、学位授与式が行われるシェルドニアン・シアターから出てくる友人たちの姿は、誇らしくもあり、またうらやましくもあった。オックスフォード大学の厳しい博士課程を成し遂げた者しか袖を通すことを許されない赤と青のガウンは、くじけそうになったときにふと頭に浮かび、オックスフォードに来たときの自分に立ち返らせてくれる「目標」だった。」（「あとがき」より抜粋）英国のオックスフォード大学マートン・コレッジでの、2001年9月から1年間、そして2004年9月から5年間の留学生活の日々――。当時の心情が瑞々しい筆致で綴られた本作品に、新たに「文庫版へのあとがき」を収録。