Atsuko Ikeda

Atsuko Ikeda(池田 厚子, Ikeda Atsuko; born 7 March 1931), formerly Atsuko, Princess Yori(順宮厚子内親王, Yori-no-miya Atsuko Naishinnō), is the fourth daughter of Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun. As such, she is the older sister of Emperor Emeritus Akihito and paternal aunt of Emperor Naruhito. She married Takamasa Ikeda, a man from outside the imperial dynasty, on 10 October 1952; as a result, she gave up her imperial title and left the Japanese imperial family, as required by law. Later, she served as the most sacred priestess (saishu) of the Ise Grand Shrine between 1988 and 2017.

Biography

Princess Atsuko was born at the Tokyo Imperial Palace on 7 March 1931, her father is the Emperor Showa (Hirohito), her mother is the Empress Kōjun. Her childhood appellation was Yori-no-miya(順宮). She had three elder sisters, the Princess Shigeko Teru-no-miya, the Princess Sachiko Hisa-no-miya (died as a baby) and the Princess Kazuko Taka-no-miya.

As with her elder two sisters, she was not raised by her biological parents, but by a succession of court ladies at a separate palace built for her and her elder sisters in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo. She graduated from the Gakushūin Peer's School, and was also tutored along with her siblings in English language by an American tutor, Elizabeth Gray Vining, during the Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. She graduated from Gakushuin University Women's College in March 1952.

On 10 October 1952, Princess Yori married Takamasa Ikeda(池田 隆政, Ikeda Takamasa; 21 October 1926 – 21 July 2012), the eldest son of former Marquis Nobumasa Ikeda and a direct descendant of the last daimyō of Okayama Domain, whom she had met at a Japanese tea ceremony at Kōraku-en gardens. The couple were engaged after only six months, but wedding plans had to be postponed due to the death of her grandmother Empress Teimei in 1951 and subsequent period of mourning. Upon her marriage, Princess Yori became the second daughter of an emperor to relinquish her status as a member of the Japanese imperial family and become a commoner upon marriage, in accordance with the 1947 Imperial Household Law. She also gave up an annual imperial allowance worth ¥650,000 ($1,800) at the time. The groom's father and the bride's mother, the Empress, were first cousins, making the couple second cousins.

The former princess relocated to Okayama Prefecture, where her husband, a wealthy cattle rancher, served as director of the Ikeda Zoo outside of Okayama city for over fifty years.

In 1965, she was hospitalized with sepsis, which was a cause of great concern for the Imperial Family, as her elder sister Shigeko Higashikuni had already died of stomach cancer.

In October 1988, Ikeda succeeded her ailing elder sister, Kazuko Takatsukasa, as the most sacred priestess (saishu) of the Ise Grand Shrine. She served in that capacity until 19 June 2017, whereupon she was succeeded by her niece, Sayako Kuroda. She also served as the Chairperson of the Association of Shinto Shrines until June 2017.[citation needed]

The former princess adopted Motohiro Nozu, who is CEO of Kabaya, in April 2024. About 10 years earlier she and her husband were already having talks about adopting someone to continue the Ikeda line. However, the adoption does not solve the Ikeda family's survival because Motohiro and his wife have no children. Motohiro and his wife also changed their last name to Ikeda.

Honours

National honours

• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown

Ancestry

Gallery

• Emperor Showa's family in 1941
• Emperor Shōwa's daughters
• Japanese cherry blossoms, Prunus serrulata, designated imperial personal emblem of Atsuko
• Princess Atsuko with her younger brother and sister, Prince Akihito and Princess Takako, in September 1950
• Princess Atsuko in 1951
• Atsuko Ikeda at the Ise Grand Shrine in Ise City, Mie Prefecture, in November 2009

Sources

• Foreign Affairs Association of Japan, The Japan Year Book (Tokyo: Kenkyusha Press, 1939–40, 1941–42, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1947–48).
• Takie Sugiyama Lebra, Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992).
• "Hirohito's Daughter Wed: Princess Yori Married to Tokyo Commoner by Shinto Rites," New York Times 10 October 1952.
• Bix, Herbert P. (2001). Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-06-093130-2.