Kiko(Crown Princess of Japan) Speaks Very Very Slowly: Measured Her Speaking Speed (Exclusive!)

Kiko, known as Japanese Crown Princess, speaks very very slowly. 

Quite amount of Japanese people knows it but this is probably the first trial that reveals her talking speed.

Please see the video below and immediately you will know what I am talking about:

To measure the speed, I used this video and the transcription which The Imperial Household Agency uploaded to their site. (Unfortunately English version transcription of this press conference hasn't been uploaded yet)

To know the difference, I measured Her Majesty the Empress' s speaking speed too.

Annotation:

1. Kiko speaks very long in that video so that I am quite sure about the result.

On the other hand the video of HM the Empress is shorter than Kiko's. So I used 2 scenes to mesure HM the Empress's talking speed.

2. More importantly, as Japanese letter Kanji has sometimes more than 2 sounds for 1 letter while Hiragana has always 1 sound for 1 letter.

So it influences the correctness of the result but I didn't have choice. Thank you for your kind understanding.

===Let's see the Result===

KIKO

Length of Speach=11”40~19”15 in the video＝7min 35sec=455 seconds（A）

Amount of Letters=1099 letters（B）

Speed＝B/A=2.415 letters/sec

【Character】

Every time she finishes speaking a phrase, she closes her mouth very tight. She even closed her mouth for 6 seconds before she started another phrase.

Her Majesty the Empress Masako

1)

Length of Speach＝1"39～2”11＝32 seconds

Amount of Letters＝164 letters

Speed＝5.125 letters/sec

2）

Lengthe of Speach＝4”49~5”39＝50 seconds

Amount of Letters＝216 letters

Speed＝4.32 letters/sec

It means: Average of Speed＝4.63 letters/sec

Conclusion

Kiko's Speaking Speed＝2.415 letters/s

HM's Speaking Speed＝4.63 letters/s

HM speaks 1.9 times faster than Kiko.

Kiko's speaking speed is half of HM's.

Postscript

It seems that Kiko speaks so oddly because Kiko tries to recall her memory of the prepared script.

I think she can speak more naturally when she stops her way of talking and speaks according to what comes in her mind.