How Japan’s Empress Masako overcame the pressures of the throne – 5 things to know about the once-shy wife of Emperor Naruhito
Japan’s formerly reclusive Empress Masako has come a long away since marrying Emperor Naruhito in 1993
The empress of Japan has only held her title since May 2019, although she married into the royal family in 1993. And her involvement with the Japanese imperial household has not always been smooth. Read on to find out some things you might not know about the 55-year-old empress.
1. She’s well educated
Masako attended Harvard University, where she majored in international economics and graduated magna cum laude. She later received a law degree from The University of Tokyo. Following this, she studied at Oxford’s Balliol College for two years. By this time, she spoke five languages other than Japanese: English, French, German, Russian and Spanish. She had a promising career as a diplomat, which is why she was at first reluctant to join the royal family.
2. She initially refused a marriage proposal from Naruhito, the now-Emperor of Japan
When Naruhito proposed to Masako in October 1992, she turned the then-crown prince down, not wanting to leave her career behind. However, Naruhito later admitted to her that he was unsure whether he could live up to the gravity of his earlier promise to “protect you with all my might for the rest of your life”. This show of honesty and vulnerability won her over, and she accepted his proposal in December 1992.
3. She faced pressure to produce a male heir
