(born ; 10 July 1953), is a member of the Japanese Imperial Family as the widow of Norihito, Prince Takamado.

Background and education

Hisako was born on 10 July 1953 in

Shirokane is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Currently it consists of six '' chōme''. According to Minato, as of November 1, 2007, the population in the neighborhood is 14,840. The term ''Shirokane'' narrowly refers to Shirokane 1-chōme to Shirokan ...

, Tokyo. She is the eldest daughter of Japanese industrialist Shigejiro Tottori. Hisako accompanied her father to England, where he was transferred for work, and while still a child became fluent in the English language. She subsequently graduated from Girton College, Cambridge University in the UK in 1975 with undergraduate degrees in anthropology and archaeology. On her return to Japan, she obtained a position working for a translation company, but soon returned to England to learn about legal terminology used in

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

s. She returned to Japan again in 1982. After her return, she was hired to assist Prince Mikasa as an interpreter and assistant at the 31st International Asian-North African Cultural Symposium. Princess Takamado received a PhD in arts from the Osaka University of Arts in February 2012.

Marriage and family

On 23 April 1984, she attended a reception hosted by the Embassy of Canada in Tokyo, where she first met Norihito, Prince Takamado. He proposed on 20 May and the Imperial Household Council announced the engagement on 1 August 1984. The formal engagement ceremony made on 17 September 1984, and the wedding held on 6 December 1984. They have three daughters: * * ; following her marriage to Kunimaro Senge, a commoner, on 5 October 2014, Princess Noriko gave up her imperial title and left the Imperial Family as required by 1947 Imperial Household Law, took the surname of her husband and became known as . * ; following her marriage to Moriya Kei, a commoner, on 29 October 2018, Princess Ayako gave up her imperial title and left the Imperial Family as required by 1947 Imperial Household Law, took the surname of her husband and became known as .

Public service

Prince and Princess Takamado were the most widely traveled couple in the Japanese Imperial Family, visiting 35 countries together in 15 years to represent Japan on various functions. The Prince's last visits included Egypt and Morocco in May 2000, Hawaii in July 2001 (to promote the

Japanese tea ceremony The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or ) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is se ...

), and to the Republic of Korea from May to June 2002. The latter was in order to attend the Opening Ceremony of the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

Korea-Japan. The goodwill visit by the Prince and Princess to Korea was the first Japanese royal visit since World War II, and was an important step in the promotion of friendly bilateral relations between Japan and Korea. While in Korea, the couple toured the country extensively, met with President Kim Dae-jung and ordinary Koreans, and he visited the facilities for the physically disabled in South Korea that the Princess Masako Nashimoto had sponsored. Prince Takamado died of ventricular fibrillation while playing squash with the Canadian

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Robert G. Wright Robert G. Wright is a Canadian former diplomat. He first worked for the Canadian federal government in 1971, as a policy analyst in the Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce. By 1995, he had risen to the position of Deputy Minister of Intern ...

, at the Canadian Embassy, leaving a widow and three young daughters. Since the Prince's death, Princess Takamado has been extremely active in a very large number of charitable organizations involving sports, cultural exchange and the environment, taking on all of the posts formerly held by her late husband, as well as numerous new posts. In June 2003, she visited Dublin, Ireland for the

2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games ) , Nations participating = 166 , Athletes participating = , Events = 23 sports , Opening ceremony = , Closing ceremony = , Officially opened by = Mary McAleese and Nelson Mandela , Torch Lighter ...

. In June 2004, she made an official visit to Canada, traveling extensively across the nation as part of the 75th Anniversary of the formal diplomatic relations between Canada and Japan. During this visit, she received two honorary doctorates in Law, one from the University of Alberta and the other from the University of Prince Edward Island. In November 2004, she visited Bangkok, Thailand, to attend the 3rd IUCN World Conference as Honorary President of

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

. In March 2004, the Princess was elected to succeed Queen Noor of Jordan as Honorary President of BirdLife International. She visited

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Uruguay in 2008, and Buenos Aires, Argentina for the Birdlife World Conservation Conference. During this visit, she attended special high goal

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

exhibition played by the Novillo Astrada brothers in her honor at the La Aguada Polo Club. In June 2005, she visited Germany to attend the

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FIFA World Cup winners ...

, attending

matches A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

between Germany against Argentina, and Japan against Brazil. Afterwards, she visited Jordan to attend the royal wedding of

Princess Badiya bint El Hassan Princess Badiya bint Hassan (born 23 March 1974) is a Jordanian princess. She is the third daughter of Prince Hassan bin Talal and Princess Sarvath al-Hassan, she is also the cousin of King Abdullah II. She chairs the committee of the Mosaic Aw ...

. In November of the same year, returned to England for the Global Council Meeting of BirdLife International. In January 2006, she returned to Canada to attend the opening of the "Prince Takamado Gallery of Japan" at the

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

. She also returned to Germany later that year in order to attend the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. In June 2013, she visited

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

to attend the wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O'Neill. In July 2017, she visited Dublin, Ireland to celebrate the 60th anniversary of modern

Ireland–Japan relations Ireland–Japan relations are the diplomatic relations between the Republic of Ireland and the State of Japan. Both nations are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. History The oldest record of an Irish person ...

. In August 2019, she visited Edmonton, Canada to celebrate the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Canada. The Princess is the author of two children's books published in English; ''Katie and the Dream-Eater'' (OUP, 1996) and ''Lulie the Iceberg'' (OUP, 1998). Since November 2002, with the death of Prince Takamado, the princess has served as the Honorary President of the Prince Takamado Trophy, All Japan-Middle School English Oratorical Contest.

Health

In March 2020, Princess Takamado underwent surgery for acute appendicitis at the University of Tokyo Hospital. On 17 March, she was discharged after checking and verifying that the operation had gone well. In November 2022, it was announced that Princess Takamado had tested positive for Covid-19 and would be convalescing at her residence. Her symptoms included fever and sore throat.

Titles and styles

Since her marriage, Hisako is styled as ''Her Imperial Highness'' Princess Takamado

Honours

National honours

* : Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown * : Dame of th
Decoration of the Red Cross
ref name="Medals
Hisako wearing Red Cross Medals
/ref> * : Recipient of th

ref name="Medals" />

Foreign honours

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry ( pt, Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique) is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of ...

(02/12/1993) * : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (08/11/2008) * : Recipient of the 70th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf (30/04/2016)

Honorary degrees

* Honorary degree in Law ( University of Alberta, 2004) * Honorary degree in Law ( University of Prince Edward Island, 2004) * Honorary degree in Education (

Hannam University Hannam University (한남대학교) is a private Christian university in Daejeon, South Korea. It was founded in 1956. Transition In February 1959, Linton (W.A.) was inaugurated as the first president of Daejeon University. The university has ...

, 2014)

Honorary positions

* Patron of the Japan Grass Ski Association * Patron of the Federation of Japan Amateur Orchestras Corp * Honorary President of the Ikebana International * Honorary President of the Amateur Rubberball Baseball Association of Japan * Honorary President of the All Japan Archery Federation * Honorary President of the Japan Fencing Federation * Honorary President of the Marine Rescue Japan * Honorary President of the Japan Hockey Association * Honorary Patron of the

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the governing body responsible for the administration of football, futsal, beach soccer and efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the national team, as well as club competitions. History The organisat ...

* Honorary President of the Japan Spanish Society * Honorary Patron of Center For Promotion of Folk-Performing Arts * Honorary President of the National Japan Bowl * Honorary President of the Inamori Foundation * Honorary President of the Japan Sailing Federation * Honorary Chairman of

Japan Squash Association Japan Squash Association is the National Organisation for Squash in Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the we ...

* Honorary President of Junior Sea Friend's Federation of Japan * Honorary Patron of the Japan National Student Association Fund * Honorary Patron of the

Asiatic Society of Japan The Asiatic Society of Japan, Inc. (一般社団法人日本アジア協会” or “Ippan Shadan Hojin Nihon Ajia Kyokai”) or "ASJ" is a non-profit organization of Japanology. ASJ serves members of a general audience that have shared interests ...

* Honorary Patron of Les Amies de Langue Francaise * Honorary Governorship of the Japan-Egypt Association * Honorary Patron of the Canada-Japan Society * Honorary President of BirdLife International * Honorary President of The International Kyudo FederationIkyf
/ref> * Honorary President of the Prince Takamado Memorial Foundation for Japan-Korea Exchange * Honorary Chairman of the International Education Center Supporter Association * Honorary Vice-President of the Japanese Red Cross Society * Honorary Patron for Asia, Bird life International's Rare Bird Club

Issue

References

External links

Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado and her family
at the Imperial Household Agency website

* Princess Takamado Visit
Japan Red Cross Society , Honorary Vice-Presidents

BBC News , Japanese royals make symbolic trip to Seoul
in Japan {{DEFAULTSORT:Hisako, Princess Takamado 1953 births 20th-century Japanese women 21st-century Japanese women Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Dames Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Grand Cordons (Imperial Family) of the Order of the Precious Crown Japanese princesses Kadōka Living people Princesses by marriage