TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Princess Yuriko, the wartime wife of Emperor Hirohito’s brother and the oldest member of the imperial family, has died after her health recently deteriorated, palace officials said. He was 101 years old.
Yuriko died on Friday in a Tokyo hospital, the Imperial Household Agency said. The cause of death was not announced.
Biography of Princess Yuriko of Japan
Born in 1923 as an aristocrat, Yuriko married Prince Mikasa, Hirohito’s younger brother and great-uncle of the current Emperor Naruhito, at the age of 18, months before the start of World War II.
She has said that she lived in a shelter with her husband and young daughter after their residence was burned down in the American bombing of Tokyo in the final months of the war, in 1945.
Yuriko raised five children and supported Mikasa’s research into the ancient history of the Near East, while also fulfilling her official duties and participating in philanthropic activities, including promoting maternal and child health. She survived her husband and three children.
Japanese royal family
His death reduces Japan’s rapidly dwindling imperial family to 16 people, including four men, as the country faces the dilemma of how to sustain the royal family while conservatives in the ruling party insist on retaining the male-only succession.
The Imperial Household Law of 1947, which largely preserves conservative pre-war family values, only allows men to ascend the throne and forces female members of the royal family who marry commoners to lose their royal status. .
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 government is debating how to keep succession stable without relying on women.
Reactions to Yuriko’s death
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, visiting South America to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum and Group of 20 summits, issued a statement expressing his “sincere condolences.”
Naruhito, Empress Masako, her daughter Aiko, and other family members visited the Mikasa residence to mourn Yuriko’s death. The palace announced that the general public wishing to offer condolences can sign a book starting Saturday.
Yuriko had led a healthy life as a centenarian before suffering a stroke and pneumonia in March. He enjoyed working out in the morning while watching a daily fitness show on television, the news agency said. Casa Imperial. He also continued to read various newspapers and magazines and enjoyed watching news and baseball on television. On sunny days, she sat in the palace garden or was carried in her wheelchair.
Yuriko was hospitalized after her stroke and had been in and out of intensive care ever since. His general condition deteriorated during the last week, as reported by the Imperial Household agency.
