Empress Masako

Masako
  • 雅子
Masako in 2023
Empress consort of Japan
Tenure1 May 2019 – present
Enthronement22 October 2019
BornMasako Owada
(小和田雅子)
(1963-12-09) 9 December 1963 (age 61)
Toranomon Hospital, Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Spouse
(m. 1993)
IssueAiko, Princess Toshi
HouseImperial House of Japan
FatherHisashi Owada
MotherYumiko Egashira
Signature
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Masako (雅子, born Masako Owada (小和田雅子, Owada Masako); 9 December 1963) is Empress of Japan as the wife of Emperor Naruhito.

Born in Tokyo, Masako was educated at Belmont High School in Massachusetts before attending Harvard College, earning a B.A., magna cum laude, in economics.[1] She also studied law at the University of Tokyo and international relations at Balliol College, Oxford. She then worked for Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a diplomat.

Masako met Crown Prince Naruhito in 1986. They married in 1993; their only child, Aiko, Princess Toshi, was born in 2001. The birth fueled the ongoing Japanese imperial succession debate, which had resulted in some politicians holding a favorable view on rescinding agnatic primogeniture imposed by World War II allies on the constitution of Japan. However, with the birth of a son to Naruhito's brother, Prince Fumihito, in 2006, no amendments were made and Aiko remains ineligible to inherit the throne, so she cannot succeed her father.[2]

The pressure to produce a male heir affected Masako's health. She was diagnosed with adjustment disorder in 2004, which forced her to withdraw from public life periodically. As crown princess and empress, Masako has accompanied her husband on official visits to foreign countries and at ceremonies within the imperial court.

  1. ^ "Empress Masako: The Japanese princess who struggles with royal life". BBC News. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Japan Crown Prince Fumihito formally declared 1st in line to throne". english.kyodonews.net. Kyodo News. Retrieved 22 January 2023.

Empress Masako

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