Empress Masako

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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 60)
Toranomon Hospital, Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Spouse
​
(m. 1993)​
IssueAiko, Princess Toshi
HouseImperial House of Japan (by marriage)
FatherHisashi Owada
MotherYumiko Egashira
ReligionShinto
Signature

Masako (雅子, born Masako Owada (小和田雅子, Owada Masako); 9 December 1963) is Empress of Japan (皇后, kōgō) as the wife of Emperor Naruhito, who ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne following his father's abdication in 2019.

Born in

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 to the law were made and Princess Aiko remains at present legally ineligible to inherit the throne, so she cannot succeed her father.[2]

The pressure to produce a male heir took a toll on Masako's health and she was officially 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.

Early life and education

Masako Owada (小和田雅子, Owada Masako) was born on 9 December 1963 at Toranomon Hospital in

twins named Setsuko and Reiko (b. 1966).[4]

Masako went to live in Moscow with her parents when she was two years old, where she attended Detskiy Sad (kindergarten in Russian) No. 1127 daycare.[5] At the age of five, Masako's family moved to New York City, where she attended kindergarten at Public School 81 in Riverdale.[6][7]

In 1971, the Owadas returned to Japan, moving in with Masako's maternal grandparents in

third base and after three years bringing her team to the district championships.[12]

In 1979, her second year of

German poetry.[13] Masako participated in a production of M*A*S*H.[13]

Masako's father was posted to

magna cum laude in economics in March 1985.[19]

Professional career

Balliol College, Oxford, where Masako studied international relations

After graduation Masako moved back to Japan, where for six months (April to October 1986) she studied law at the University of Tokyo to prepare for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs's entrance examination.[20][21] Out of 800 applicants only 28 passed;[21] Masako was one of them, along with two other women.[21][22]

"She was assigned, first, to the oddly named Second International Organizations Division which deals with Japan's relations with international agencies, such as the OECD, a club of 30 rich countries committed to free trade and development. Her assignments included dealing with the OECD's environmental affairs committee ... by all accounts she acquitted herself well—her command of spoken languages, so rare in Japan, was a huge advantage—and was popular with most of her workmates."[23] During her free time, Masako attended cooking classes to, according to interviews with her instructor, "be able to cook proper Japanese dishes when she was entertaining [foreigners]."[24]

Two years later, in 1988, Masako was chosen by the Ministry to be sponsored for two years' postgraduate study overseas with full pay, just as her father Hisashi had been years earlier.

Sir Adam Roberts[27] at Balliol College, Oxford.[28] However, for unclear reasons Masako did not finish her thesis[29]
and instead returned to Japan in 1990.

Courtship and marriage

The newly married Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako in Japanese traditional attire, with the Prince wearing a sokutai, the Princess a jūnihitoe, 1993
A 500-yen coin issued to commemorate the imperial wedding
Crimson phenotype of Japanese 'Ramanas' rose, Rosa rugosa, Masako's designated imperial personal insignia

Masako first met Prince Naruhito at a tea for Infanta Elena of Spain, in November 1986,[30][31] during her studies at the University of Tokyo. The prince was immediately captivated by her[22][32] and arranged for them to meet several times over the next few weeks.[33] Because of this they were pursued relentlessly by the press throughout 1987.[4][34] However, Masako's name disappeared from the list of possible royal brides due to controversy about her maternal grandfather, Yutaka Egashira, who while working for the

Minamata and other towns, causing the infamous Minamata disease and the resulting scandal.[35]

Despite this controversy and Masako's travelling to

Balliol College for the next two years, Naruhito remained interested in her. Masako refused to marry the prince because it would force her to give up her promising career in diplomacy and severely restrict her independence and freedoms.[22] Masako finally accepted his third proposal on 9 December 1992.[22] It was reported that he argued that serving as Crown Princess of Japan would only be "another form of diplomacy" before she finally accepted this third proposal.[36] The Imperial Household Council
formally announced the engagement on 19 January 1993; the engagement ceremony was held on 12 April 1993. Although many were surprised at the news, as it was believed that the prince and Masako had separated, the engagement was met with a surge of renewed media attention directed toward the Imperial family and their new princess.

Masako married Crown Prince Naruhito in a traditional wedding ceremony on 9 June 1993.[37] By virtue of the marriage, Masako Owada assumed the formal style Her Imperial Highness The Crown Princess of Japan. As tradition dictates, upon her entry into the imperial family and like other members, she received the blossom of the endemic curly-leaved Japanese Ramanas rose (o-shirushi (お印)): Rosa rugosa (hamanasu, beach aubergine (ハマナス))[38][39] for an imperial personal emblem, which is mauve-lilac to crimson or white (rarely with cultivars to full or burst yellow),[40] while her insignia as Crown Princess bear the forms of the imperial household's antique gold-traced white chrysanthemum.[41] In addition, she was placed in the Japanese Imperial Order of Precedence (used for the most formal occasions) behind her mother-in-law, Empress Michiko, and her grandmother-in-law, Empress Dowager Nagako. The orchid flower Dendrobium cultivar Masako Kotaishi Hidenka was named in her honour to celebrate the wedding.[42]

Masako became the third commoner to marry into the imperial family, after her mother-in-law, Empress Emerita Michiko (Michiko Shōda) and her sister-in-law, Crown Princess Kiko (Kiko Kawashima).

Children

Naruhito and Masako with their daughter, Aiko in Nasu Imperial Villa, Tochigi Prefecture in August 2019

Masako's first pregnancy was announced in December 1999, but she miscarried.[16]

The Emperor and Empress have one daughter: Aiko, Princess Toshi (敬宮愛子内親王, Toshi-no-miya Aiko Naishinnō, born 1 December 2001 at Imperial Household Agency Hospital in Tokyo Imperial Palace).[43][44]

Succession crisis

Their daughter's birth, which occurred more than eight years after their marriage, sparked

agnatic primogeniture to either cognatic or absolute primogeniture, which would allow a woman to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne
.

A government-appointed panel of experts submitted a report on 25 October 2005, recommending that the Imperial Succession Law be amended to permit absolute primogeniture. On 20 January 2006, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi used part of his annual keynote speech to address the controversy when he pledged to submit a bill to the National Diet letting women ascend to the throne in order that the imperial throne be continued in a stable manner. Koizumi did not announce a timing for the legislation to be introduced nor did he provide details about the content, but he did note that it would be in line with the conclusions of the 2005 Government Panel.

Plans to change the male-only law of Imperial succession were shelved after it was announced in February 2006 that Masako's brother-in-law and his wife,

Princess Akishino, were expecting their third child. On 6 September 2006, Princess Akishino gave birth to a son, Hisahito, who was third-in-line to the Chrysanthemum Throne under the current law, after his uncle, the Emperor, and his father, Prince Akishino.[45][46][47]

Crown Princess of Japan

Masako, as Crown Princess

In 1994, the couple visited

Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant.[48] In 2002, they paid a visit to New Zealand and Australia.[48] In 2006, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess went to the Netherlands with their daughter, Princess Aiko, at the invitation of Queen Beatrix for a private visit.[49]

Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako attended the JET Programme 30th Anniversary Commemorative Ceremony at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo, November 2016.

On 30 April 2013, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess were present at the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, which was the Crown Princess's first official overseas appearance in eleven years.[50][51][52] In October 2014, she was present at a banquet held in honour of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which was her first appearance in such a ceremony in eleven years.[53] She welcomed the couple during an official ceremony at the palace which was her first appearance in a welcoming ceremony after five years.[53] In July 2015, Princess Masako traveled to Tonga with the Crown Prince in order to attend the Coronation of King Tupou VI. Over 40 members of the Japanese media covered the event, during which the happy-looking Crown Princess was warmly welcomed.[54]

Empress of Japan

See also: 2019 Japanese imperial transition

Upon the abdication of Masako's father-in-law, Emperor

Tokyo Imperial Palace
on 22 October 2019.

Naruhito and Masako's first trip abroad as emperor and empress took place in September 2022, to the United Kingdom to attend the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.[55][56]

Health

Masako has periodically been out of the public eye, largely between 2004 and 2014,[57] reportedly due to emotional disorders speculated to be caused by the pressure to produce a male heir and adjusting to life in the Imperial Family.[58][59] In July 2004, she was diagnosed as suffering from adjustment disorder and was reported to be seeking treatment.[60][61][62]

On 11 July 2008, Naruhito sought public understanding for his ailing wife. He was on an eight-day trip to Spain without her:[63] "I would like the public to understand that Masako is continuing to make her utmost efforts with the help of those around her. Please continue to watch over her kindly and over the long term." Pressures to produce a male heir, to conform with the ancient traditions and a 1947 Imperial Household Law are perceived to be behind her illness, as well as negative media coverage of her behavior, the stress of royal responsibility and public life, and turf battles among the Imperial Household Agency.[64][65]

In December 2012, at the time of her 49th birthday, Masako issued a statement thanking the Japanese people for their support and saying that she was still receiving treatment for her illness.[66] The Japanese Constitution does not allow the members of the Imperial Family to engage in political activities. Naruhito made controversial comments about discourtesies and pressures placed on his wife by the Imperial Household Agency and his wife's desire to pursue the life of a diplomat.[67]

In 2019, Masako accompanied her husband at official events and at his accession ceremonies. During the state visit of U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump to Japan in April, Masako and Naruhito conversed with them without interpreters; the imperial couple are both fluent in English. Her doctors however have stated that she has not fully recovered but a strong sense of duty has helped her fulfill her responsibilities.[68]

Titles, styles and honours

Styles of
Empress Masako
Reference style
Her Majesty
Spoken styleYour Majesty

Titles and styles

  • 9 December 1963 – 9 June 1993: Miss Masako Owada (小和田雅子 Owada Masako)
  • 9 June 1993 – 30 April 2019:
    • Her Imperial Highness The Crown Princess of Japan (皇太子妃殿下 Kōtaishi-hi Denka)
    • Her Imperial Highness The Crown Princess Masako (皇太子徳仁親王妃雅子殿下 Kōtaishi Naruhito Shinnō-hi Masako Denka)
  • 1 May 2019 – present: Her Majesty The Empress[69] (皇后陛下 Kōgō Heika)

Honours

See also: List of honours of the Japanese imperial family by country

National

  •  Japan:
    • Grand Mistress and Grand Cordon (Paulownia) of the Order of the Precious Crown
    • Dame of the Decoration of the Red Cross
    • Recipient of the Red Cross Medal

Foreign

Honorary positions

  • Honorary President of the
    Japanese Red Cross Society (formerly vice president as the Crown Princess)[77]

Ancestry

Her father Hisashi is descended from the Owada clan, whose head Shinroku—Masako's 4th-great-grandfather[78]—was called to Murakami in 1787 to serve the Naito clan that the Tokugawa shōgun had installed as the city's rulers 67 years earlier.[78] After the fall of the shogunate, the Owadas participated in a salmon-fishing cooperative,[79] the proceeds of which provided schooling for many local children, including Hisashi and his father Takeo.[79]

Her mother Yumiko is descended from the Egashira

Saga clans near Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu. One of the Egashiras, Yasutaro, went on to command a battleship in the Russo-Japanese War.[3] Yumiko's father was a wealthy banker who was at the time of her marriage the managing director of the Industrial Bank of Japan.[80]

See also

References

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  2. ^ "Japan Crown Prince Fumihito formally declared 1st in line to throne". english.kyodonews.net. Kyodo News. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
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  8. ^ Hills, p. 46.
  9. ^ a b Hills, p. 48.
  10. ^ Hills, p. 49.
  11. ^ Hills, p. 50.
  12. ^ Hills, p. 52.
  13. ^ a b c d Hills, p. 92.
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  15. ^ a b Hills, p. 95.
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  17. ^ Hills, p. 101.
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Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Empress Masako.
Japanese royalty
Preceded by
Empress consort of Japan

2019–present 		Incumbent
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