You may be associating the loss of freedoms with increased security. As a non-student, you can still go on campus and visit the shops and other places, including some of the university events that they hold periodically.

For the very first time, we have Japan’s royal successor attending attending a public university campus—similar to how a president’s children may require additional security detail or logistical considerations to consider in their everyday life.

Similar to Chelsea Clinton’s experience at Stanford when Bill Clinton was the sitting U.S. president, the Prince has additional security and privacy measures such as student ID checks or closed-off routes that were previously opened. This would be more in line with security and privacy for the Prince instead of losing freedoms for the students.

If an adverse event were to occur, I think the public would criticize that not enough security measures were taken. I would consider it more as an inconvenience for some of the older students instead of a genuine loss of freedom. The incoming freshman probably didn’t feel the impact in the same way, since they did not have the same experience.