A zoo in Oita Prefecture, southern Japan named a newborn monkey Charlotte after the princess of Cambridge in celebration of the Royal Family, but has quickly retracted the name due to a huge number of complaints.
The Takasakiyama Natural Zoological Gardens, which is located in the south of Japan, is very popular for its wild macaques that inhabit the surrounding area. When a new baby monkey is born visitors are invited to vote for the name for the infant monkey. The names that are usually selected for visitors to place their votes to are selected from the most popular events in Japan or around the world.
After a vote of 853 participants the name Charlotte was chosen as the winning name but as soon as the Zoo announced the winning vote it started to receive a barrage of phone calls and emails from the general public demanding they retract the name on the grounds of being offensive to the Royal Family.
Not only did the zoo get telephone calls and emails its twitter account also got ambushed with a number of Japanese concerns with such comments as "what the Japanese people would think if a British monkey were named after a member of Japan's imperial family" and "I think it is offensive towards the people of England".
An official statement on the Takasaki Natural Zoo has apologized and is discussing a possible name change for the baby monkey.
The birth of Charlotte Elizabeth Diana Princess of Cambridge has been viewed in many countries around the world as a great event in British history. Not only have the many countries accepted the birth with open arms but the Japanese have also taken upon themselves to celebrate the birth as has been highlighted on the national news stations throughout the country.
Even the visit of Prince William just a few months ago was accepted as a national event that everyone in Japan was talking about it for days on after. Many of the Japanese population see the British Royal Family as more important than their own so perhaps in light of this is why the naming of the monkey didn't go over well.
