Tokyo —Japanese Princess Yuriko, wife of Emperor Hirohito’s brother and eldest member of the imperial family, has died following a recent decline in health, palace officials said. Yuriko died Friday at the age of 101 in a Tokyo hospital, the Imperial Household Agency said. The cause of death has not been announced.
Born in 1923 as an aristocrat, Yuriko married Prince Mikasa, Hirohito’s younger brother and the great-uncle of the current Emperor Naruhito, at age 18, a few months before the start of the year. World War II.
She described living in a shelter with her husband and their young daughter after their residence was burned down during the American bombing of Tokyo during the final months of the war in 1945.
Imperial Household Agency via AP
Yuriko raised five children and supported Mikasa’s research into ancient Near Eastern history, while carrying out her official duties and participating in philanthropic activities, including promoting maternal and child health. She survived her husband and their three sons.
His death reduces Japan’s rapidly declining imperial family to 16 people, including four men, as the country faces the dilemma of how to maintain the royal lineage as ruling party conservatives insist on keeping a reserved succession to men.
The Imperial Household Law of 1947, which largely preserves conservative pre-war Japanese family values, allows only men to ascend to the throne and requires female royals who marry commoners to lose their royal status. This rule came into force relatively recently, when Princess Mako married her non-royal fiancé Kei Komuro in October 2021, quickly losing his royal title and attributes – and depriving the declining imperial family of another member.
The youngest male member of the imperial family, Prince Hisahito – Emperor Naruhito’s nephew – is currently the last heir apparent, posing a major problem for a system that does not allow empresses. The Conservative-led government is debating how to maintain stable succession without relying on women.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, visiting South America to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and Group of 20 summits, issued a statement expressing his “sincere condolences.”
Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter Aiko along with other relatives visited the Mikasa residence to mourn Yuriko’s death. The palace announced that the general public wishing to offer their condolences will be able to sign a book starting Saturday.
Yuriko had lived a healthy life as a centenarian before suffering a stroke and pneumonia in March.
Douglas Glynn/Toronto Star/Getty
She liked to exercise in the morning while watching a daily fitness program on television, according to the Imperial Household Agency. She also continued to read several newspapers and magazines and enjoyed watching the news and baseball on television. On sunny days, she sat in the palace garden or moved around in her wheelchair.
Yuriko was hospitalized after her stroke and has been in and out of intensive care ever since. His general condition has deteriorated over the past week, the Imperial Household Agency said.
