is a member of the

Imperial House of Japan The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...

and the second daughter of

Prince Tomohito of Mikasa was a member of the Imperial House of Japan and the eldest son of Takahito, Prince Mikasa and Yuriko, Princess Mikasa. He was a first cousin of Emperor Akihito, and was formerly sixth in the line of succession to the Japanese throne and the ...

and

Princess Tomohito of Mikasa (born ; 9 April 1955) is a member of the Japanese Imperial Family as the widow of Prince Tomohito of Mikasa. Background and education Nobuko, a Catholic, was born on 9 April 1955 in Tokyo. She is the third daughter and youngest child of , the ...

(Nobuko).

Biography

Early life and education

Princess Yōko was born on 25 October 1983 at

Japanese Red Cross Medical Center The Japanese Red Cross Medical Center (JRC Medical Center) is a general hospital located in Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. It is the main hospital of the Japanese Red Cross Society, and is directly controlled by it. The site of Hiroo, Tokyo, where the ...

Hiroo, Shibuya is a district of Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Abutting Ebisu, Minami-Azabu, Nishi-Azabu and Minami-Aoyama, Hiroo is an upmarket residential and shopping neighborhood in central Tokyo. As of October, 2020, the population of this district is 15,263. T ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, She attended the prestigious

Gakushūin The or Peers School (Gakushūin School Corporation), initially known as Gakushūjo, is a Japanese educational institution in Tokyo, originally established to educate the children of Japan's nobility. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002)"Gakushū-i ...

School for her primary, junior high, and high school education. The Princess is a graduate of the

Gakushuin Women's College is a private women's college in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan; part of the Gakushūin School Corporation (学習院). The predecessor of the school was founded in 1847 by Emperor Kōmei. It was chartered as a junior college in 1949 and became a four-yea ...

, the Faculty of Intercultural Studies, the Department of Japanese Studies with a bachelor's degree in

Japanese Studies Japanese studies (Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes Japanology in Europe), is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanese ...

Career

Princess Yōko has subsequently been active in various volunteer activities, especially with the

Japanese Red Cross The is the Japanese affiliate of the International Red Cross. The Imperial Family of Japan traditionally has supported the society, with the Empress as Honorary President and other imperial family members as vice presidents. Its headquarters i ...

Society, from December 2006 to November 2012.Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Mikasa and their family - Official website
/ref> She was inaugurated as the Patron of the International Association for Universal Design (IAUD) in August 2013, a position previously held by her father. She was also inaugurated as the President of the Social Welfare Organization Yuai Jyuji Kai in January 2014.

Public appearances

A practitioner of the traditional

Japanese martial art Japanese martial arts refers to the variety of martial arts native to the country of Japan. At least three Japanese terms (''budō'', ''bujutsu'', and ''bugei'') are used interchangeably with the English phrase Japanese martial arts. The usag ...

kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...

from an early age, the Princess was selected to participate in exhibition tournaments in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 2005, as well as the Aichi World's Fair held the same year. In July 2006, Princess Yōko attended the national convention Kendo Housewives.

Prince Tomohito's death

On 6 June 2012, Prince Tomohito died from multiple organ failure. His funeral and ceremony was attended by Princess Yōko and other members of the Imperial Family. In June 2013 in a statement about the Prince's household, it was announced by the Imperial Household Agency that "it adreduced the number of households in the Imperial family by one", integrating it into the household led by his father. According to the agency's officials the household integration won't have any effect on lives of the widow and daughters of Prince Tomohito.

Health

On 2 February 2019, Princess Yōko spoke at a conference for deaf people about her "sensorineural

hearing loss Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to Hearing, hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to Language ...

" and that it is sometimes difficult for her to hold a conversation due to her hearing loss. Subsequently, she revealed that her sensorineural hearing loss is due to meniere's syndrome. On 8 February 2022, Princess Yōko was hospitalized at the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

Hospital due to moderate

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

after testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Princess Yōko was discharged from the

Hospital on 16 February after recovering from

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. She returned to her Akasaka estate where she would recover from pneumonia. The doctors gave their permission after judging the Princess's condition as stable.

Titles and styles

Yōko is styled as Her Imperial Highness Princess Yōko.

Honours

National honours

*: **

Member 2nd Class (Peony) of the

Order of the Precious Crown The is a Japanese order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. Since the Order of the Rising Sun at that time was an Order for men, it was established as an Order for women. Originally the order had five classes, but on Ap ...

Notes

References

External links

Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Mikasa and their family
at the Imperial Household Agency website {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoko Of Mikasa, Princess Japanese princesses 1983 births Living people People from Tokyo Order of the Precious Crown members 20th-century Japanese women 21st-century Japanese women