bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Princess Mikasa, the oldest member of Japan’s royal family and great-aunt to the emperor, died aged 101 on Friday in a Tokyo hospital, the Imperial Household Agency said.
She had been hospitalised since March after suffering a stroke and pneumonia and had been recuperating there following treatment in intensive care.
Born Yuriko Takagi to an aristocratic family on June 4, 1923, the princess was 18 when she married the younger brother of wartime emperor Hirohito.
The couple had five children - two girls and three boys. She gave birth to her first, a daughter, in 1944 during World War II.
The imperial couple’s house burned down in an air raid and she was forced to stay in a shelter with her baby, according to Japan’s Asahi Shimbun daily.
Hirohito, who served as Japan’s commander-in-chief during its brutal march across Asia in the 1930s and 40s, surrendered in an August 1945 speech, after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Princess Mikasa’s husband Prince Mikasa, who died in 2016 at 100, was in favour of the decision to end the war.
But young officers who disagreed would come regularly to the shelter to try and change his mind.
Princess Mikasa recalled that the atmosphere was “very frightening” with “heated arguments and tension, as if bullets were about to fly”, the Asahi Shimbun said.
Having lost their home, the decades that followed were far from luxurious for the princess, who took on domestic duties as the family struggled financially.

“When I was raising my children, Japanese society was still in a difficult period,” she said on her 100th birthday in a statement released by the Imperial Household Agency.
“I recall with deep gratitude how many people, including my husband, always supported me,” the princess added.
All three of Princess Misaka’s sons passed away before her, including one who died aged 47 while playing squash.
Male-only succession rules mean that Japan’s royal women cannot ascend to the throne and must forgo their imperial status if they marry outside the family.


Princess Misaka has three granddaughters who remain princesses, including Akiko, whose 2015 book was a hit in Japan, describing her studies at Oxford and an incident in which her diplomatic passport caused suspicion at an airport.
The 101-year-old’s passing followed reports since early November that her condition had begun to deteriorate.
Current Emperor Naruhito’s 18-year-old nephew Prince Hisahito is the only young heir to the throne. Naruhito’s daughter Princess Aiko is barred from the throne under the Imperial Household Law, in place since 1947.


Nuclear waste storage plans offer a lifeline to Japan’s dying towns, but at what cost?

Japan brewery aims to make world’s first space sake, sell it for US$640,000

Japan’s Fukushima raises a stink over improper waste disposal, imposes name and shame rule

Unmissable Japan, from Fukuoka’s yatai feasts to luxury ryokans and a samurai’s trek

Japan

Japan’s Princess Mikasa, great-aunt to emperor, dies aged 101

Japan’s Princess Yuriko and her husband Prince Mikasa are greeted with a traditional dance in 1956 in Sri Lanka. The princess died at a Tokyo hospital on Friday, aged 101. Photo: Kyodo

Princess Yuriko, wife of the late Prince Mikasa, last year. Photo: Imperial Household Agency via AP

Crown Prince Naruhito, his great-aunt Princess Yuriko and her husband Prince Mikasa attend the funeral of the couple’s son Prince Katsura in 2014. Photo: Kyodo

Deer attacks on the rise in Japan’s Nara Park as tourists return post-pandemic

The deer of Nara, which live close to humans, have become one of the symbols of Nara city. Photo: Xinhua

Tourists and deer at the entrance to Todaiji Temple in Nara, Japan. Photo: Shutterstock

A security guard feeds deer at a temple in Nara, Japan. Photo: Getty Images

Nara’s deer are protected as natural monuments of Japan. Photo: Xinhua

Is Japan’s Ishiba too ‘weak’ to deal with Trump? Split views on when meeting should occur

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Photo: Pool via Xinhua

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shakes hands with US President Donald Trump during their meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on February 10, 2017. Photo: Reuters

Prince Hisahito becomes Japan’s first male royal to reach adulthood in 4 decades

Prince Hisahito has long been interested in insects and even co-authored an academic paper on a survey of dragonflies on the grounds of his Akasaka estate in Tokyo. Photo: Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AFP

Japan’s Princess Aiko greets guests during the spring garden party at the Akasaka Palace imperial garden in Tokyo in April. Photo: AP

Japan’s Prince Hisahito (centre) is accompanied by his parents, Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko, and his sisters Princess Mako (left) and Princess Kako (right) after attending “Chakko-no-gi” ceremony to celebrate his growth and the passage from infancy to childhood in Tokyo in November 2011. Photo: AP

Online savvy young Japanese feel no affinity for imperial family, survey shows

Japan’s Emperor Naruhito, accompanied by other imperial family members, waves to audience members during his birthday celebration at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on February 23. Photo: AP

Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Photo: AFP

Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, stroll with their son and daughter, Prince Hisahito, and Princess Kako, at the Akasaka imperial property residence in Tokyo. Photo: Handout via Reuters

Princess Aiko feeding a horse at the Imperial Household Agency of Japan’s stable in Tokyo. Photo: AFP

Britain laces up for a Japan-style 116km relay as Emperor Naruhito visits

Runners set off on the first day of the Tokyo-Hakone ekiden in 2020. The 219km (136-mile) race celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. Photo: Kyodo

A footpath along the River Thames, which will be used as part of the course for the first UK “ekiden”. Photo: Handout 

Racers compete in the 100th anniversary Tokyo-Hakone ekiden on New Year’s Day 2024. Photo: Handout

News

Asia

East Asia

The princess, who was the oldest member of the nation’s royal family, was 18 when she married the younger brother of wartime emperor Hirohito


The princess, who was the oldest member of the nation’s royal family, was 18 when she married the younger brother of wartime emperor Hirohito.


History

Royalty