Still apparently traumatised by an encounter with some 'boisterous' boys in her school in March, the eight-year-old daughter of Japan's Crown Prince is only attending a couple of hours of school each week - accompanied in class by her mother, Crown Princess Masako.
Speculation is growing over the mental frailty of Princess Aiko, inevitable given Masako's own widely reported mental health problems. Now 47, Masako has rarely been seen in public since 2004 and is suffering from what the palace finally admitted to be an 'adjustment disorder'.
Officials of the Imperial Household Agency have confirmed Aiko was only able to attend the first hour of classes at the elite Gakushuin Primary School between March 8 and 11 after being shocked at the 'rough behaviour' of some boys in her class.
She failed to attend the end-of-year graduation ceremony at the end of the month and was also absent for the April 9 welcoming ceremony for new third grade students. Since then, Aiko has attended school for three hours a day, accompanied by her mother, although she has taken some days off complaining of a cold.
An official said Masako was taking her to school in the morning and later returning with her to the palace, where Aiko is having private tuition.
Issei Nomura, the grand master of Crown Prince Naruhito's household, told a press conference on Friday that the princess is 'doing her best with the support of her parents'.
But the concern remains that another Japanese princess is struggling to come to terms with royal life lived in the constant glare of publicity.