, formerly , is a former member of the Imperial House of Japan and the second daughter of

Norihito, Prince Takamado was a Japanese member of the Imperial House of Japan and the third son of Takahito, Prince Mikasa and Yuriko, Princess Mikasa. He was a first cousin of Emperor Akihito, and was seventh in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne at the time of his de ...

and

Hisako, Princess Takamado (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, Tokyo. She is the eldest daughter of Japanese industrialist ...

. She married Kunimaro Senge, a commoner, on 5 October 2014. As a result, she gave up her imperial title and left the

Japanese Imperial Family 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 ...

, as required by law.

Biography

Princess Noriko was born on 22 July 1988 at Aiiku Hospital in Minami-Azabu,

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

. After her birth, her father, Prince Takamado, chose her name. She went to Gakushuin Kindergarten. After that she attended the prestigious Gakushuin School for her primary, junior high, and high school education. In April 2007, Princess Noriko enrolled in the

Gakushuin University is a private university in Mejiro, Toshima Ward, Tokyo. It was re-established after World War II as an affiliate of the Gakushūin School Corporation. The privatized successor to the original Gakushūin University (or "Peers School") was estab ...

, Faculty of Letters, Department of Psychology, and expressed her intent to pursue studies in the field of clinical psychology. In July 2008, she came of age and attended official ceremonies in Japan with the other members of the Imperial Family. She attended official functions at the palace and accompanied her mother to some other official events, as well as attending some on her own. On 20 March 2011, she graduated from Gakushuin University with the

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

Marriage

On 27 May 2014, Princess Noriko announced her engagement to , a

kannushi A , also called , is a person responsible for the maintenance of a as well as for leading worship of a given .* ''Kannushi'' (in Japanese), Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version The characters for are sometimes also re ...

for the

Izumo-taisha , officially Izumo Ōyashiro, is one of the most ancient and important Shinto shrines in Japan. No record gives the date of establishment. Located in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, it is home to two major festivals. It is dedicated to the god , fam ...

shrine. The two married on 5 October at the shrine. Senge Kunimaro is the eldest son of Senge Takamasa, the head priest of the Izumo Grand Shrine. The Senge family have been hereditary administrators of the shrine for generations. Though legally commoners today, the heads of the family held the title of baron in the Imperial Japanese peerage (''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ...

'') before its abolition in 1947. Senge Kunimaro is a second cousin (twice removed) of the present Emperor and a distant cousin twice over of Princess Noriko. He and Noriko are third cousins once removed by their shared descent from Prince

Kujō Michitaka , son of regent Kujō Hisatada and adopted son of his brother, Kujō Yukitsune, was a '' kuge'' or Japanese court noble of the late Edo period and politician of the early Meiji era who served as a member of the House of Peers. One of his daughte ...

, who was the father of the Empress Teimei, Princess Noriko's great-grandmother and Senge Kunimaro's great-great-aunt. The couple are also fifth cousins through their shared descent from Marquis

Nakayama Tadayasu Marquess Nakayama Tadayasu (Japanese 中山忠能, 17 December 1809 – 12 June 1888) was a Japanese nobleman and courtier of the Edo period and then one of the Kazoku of the post-1867 Empire of Japan. He was the father of Nakayama Yoshiko (1836 ...

, the maternal grandfather of the

Meiji Emperor , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figure ...

. By birth, Kunimaro is also related to other members of the imperial family. He is a sixth cousin once removed of his grandmother-in-law,

Princess Mikasa (born ; 4 June 1923), is a member of the Imperial House of Japan as the widow of Takahito, Prince Mikasa, the fourth son of Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei. The Princess is the last surviving paternal great-aunt-in-law of Emperor Naruhito, an ...

, a third cousin twice removed of

Princess Hitachi (born ; 19 July 1940), is a member of the Imperial House of Japan, Japanese Imperial Family as the wife of Masahito, Prince Hitachi, who is the younger son of Hirohito, Emperor Shōwa and the only brother of Emperor Emeritus Akihito. Early lif ...

and a cousin of the late Princesses

Takamatsu 270px, Takamatsu City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Takamatsu city center 270px, View from Yashima to Takashima port is a city located in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 414,134 in 190120 households and a popul ...

and Chichibu (a second cousin thrice removed and a fourth cousin thrice removed, respectively). After the wedding, Princess Noriko lost her imperial status. This change in her status is mandated by the Imperial Household Act of 1947 that requires females of the Imperial Family to relinquish their title from birth, official membership in the Imperial Family, and allowance from the state upon marriage to a commoner. At 26 years of age, she became the seventh female member born into the

to marry a commoner since the passage of the

Imperial Household Law is a statute in Japanese law that governs the line of imperial succession, the membership of the imperial family, and several other matters pertaining to the administration of the Imperial Household. In 2017, the National Diet changed the law ...

in 1947, and the first member of the family to lose her royal status since the marriage of Sayako, Princess Nori, Emperor Akihito's daughter, in 2005. The government decided to bestow a one-time ¥106.75 million allowance on the couple.

Titles and styles

*22 July 1988 – 5 October 2014: ''Her Imperial Highness'' Princess Noriko of Takamado *5 October 2014 – present: ''Mrs.'' Kunimaro Senge

Ancestry

References

External links

Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado and her family
at the Imperial Household Agency website {{DEFAULTSORT:Senge, Noriko Japanese princesses 1988 births Living people People from Tokyo Gakushuin University alumni Order of the Precious Crown members