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May 1, 2019 · Masako left the ministry after her engagement to Naruhito became official in January 1993. They got married in June that year.
Jun 24, 2024 · For her part, Masako was initially reluctant to marry Naruhito. Having just started out as a diplomat, a marriage to Naruhito would force her to abandon her career, curtailing much of her...
Feb 23, 2023 · With an international career at her feet (Masako spent time as an international trade negotiator), the budding diplomat was reluctant to marry Naruhito. Not only would a marriage to Naruhito force her to give up her career, but her freedom would be compromised as soon as she entered the Japanese imperial family.
May 9, 2019 · When Masako married Naruhito, his younger brother, Prince Fumihito, had had a daughter but there were no male heirs at all. Unless Masako could produce a son the imperial family would die out.
- Naruhito Was The First Royal to Be Breastfed by His Mother
- A Set of Rules on How to Take Care of Naruhito Became A Best-Selling Book
- He Described Queen Elizabeth II as “Laid-Back”
- He Was Once Turned Away from A Nightclub
- Masako Turned Down His Proposals Twice
- His Parents Didn’T Attend Their Wedding Ceremony
- One of His Biggest Passions Is Water Conservation
- He Is The First Emperor Since Ninko in 1817 to Be Enthroned After An Abdication
- Donald Trump Gave Him A Viola
Born in a makeshift hospital at the palace on February 23, 1960, Naruhito is said to have had a relatively normal upbringing. His mother Michiko– the first commoner to marry into the imperial family – breastfed him and his younger siblings, a role that was previously undertaken by wet nurses. The young prince was allowed to make his own friends and...
Though his parents chose to raise their first-born themselves rather than rely on wet nurses and maids, they were away a lot on official trips. For those occasions, Michiko left a notebook with written instructions for nannies on how to take care of Naruhito. The list, which included things like hugging him at least once a day and not letting him p...
After graduating from Gakushuin University in 1983, Naruhito went to Oxford to study for a master’s degree on the history of transportation on the River Thames. Much of his first week in the U.K. was spent in the company of the British royal family, including the Queen, who impressed him with her laid-back manner and the fact that she poured him a ...
Barely able to move in Japan without asking for permission, Naruhito enjoyed a new lease of life in the U.K. He learned how to iron and wash his own clothes (though managed to flood the room on his first attempt). He also participated in various sports, went on some pub crawls and was even turned away from a nightclub because he was wearing jeans. ...
Naruhito first met Masako Owada at a banquet held for the Duchess of Lugo’s visit to Japan in 1986 and pursued her for the next six years. Initially she wasn’t keen and turned down two of his marriage proposals as she didn’t want to give up on her budding career as a diplomat. The Imperial Household Council also had reservations, partly due to the ...
On June 9, 1993, Crown Prince Naruhito and Masako Owada tied the knot at the Kashiko-dokoro, a palace sanctuary said to enshrine Sun Goddess Amaterasu-omikami. 812 invited guests waited in the Imperial Garden while the 15-minute ceremony took place as they weren’t allowed inside. Naruhito’s parents, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko stayed in the...
The former crown prince has given speeches and sent video messages at several World Water Forums and served as honorary president of the U.N. Secretary General Advisory Board between 2007 and 2015. His interest in water policies developed after a trip to Nepal in 1987. “Many women and children were gathering around a tap to collect a bit of water f...
In 2016 came the announcement that Emperor Akihito would be stepping down as the ceremonial figurehead of Japan as he felt he could no longer carry out his duties properly due to ill health. A one-off bill was passed a year later allowing him to pass the baton on to his son. The first abdication since Emperor Kokaku renounced his crown more than tw...
The first foreign leader to meet the new emperor was Donald Trump in May 2019. The US president presented him with a viola made in 1938 by Ivan W. Allison alongside a photo of American composer Aaron Copland. Like his parents, Emperor Naruhito is a keen musician and in 2013 performed on a viola made of debris from the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsu...
Apr 29, 2019 · On the morning of Dec. 10, 1999, Japan’s No. 2 newspaper by circulation published the front-page headline the country had been waiting for: “Princess Masako Shows Signs of Pregnancy.” It had been...
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May 2, 1993 · Prince Naruhito had met his destiny in Masako Owada, a foreign-affairs whiz already wedded—to her job. By Murray Sayle. May 2, 1993. Illustration by Geoffrey Parker. Boy has to meet girl somehow,...
