Who Is Princess Aiko of Japan?
Aiko, Princess Toshi, is the only daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako.
Though Princess Aiko was raised in the confines of the Imperial Family's palaces, her life has been, in comparison to other royalty, relatively unsheltered; she studied abroad alone, and has been on numerous public outings. In 2021, the Japanese royal family moved from Akasaka Palace to the Tokyo Imperial Palace, and since then, have concentrated on their imperial duties.
In 2021, Princess Aiko had her coming-of-age ceremony, which in Japan is celebrated at 20 years of age. Instead of creating a new tiara for the ceremony due to the pandemic, she borrowed her aunt Sayako Kuroda's tiara. Sayako, Emperor Naruhito's sister, married a commoner and thus left the imperial household in 2005.
Today, Princess Aiko is 22 years old and continues her royal duties while working at the Red Cross. Here are six things to know about the Japanese princess:
1. She is an only child.
Aiko, born on December 1, 2001, is the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako. Aiko faced some tribulations during her early life. In part due to her royal status, Aiko began to stay home from school in March 2010. According to a spokesperson of the Imperial Household Agency, Aiko was being bullied by boys in her elementary school, but slowly returned to school a month when it stopped. She was also hospitalized for pneumonia in 2011, but recovered shortly after.
2. She cannot become Empress.
Her birth caused a great nationwide debate. According to the Imperial Household Law of 1947, members of the imperial line may only inherit the Chrysanthemum throne if they are male. Since Empress Masako had only one child, the line of succession was uncertain for a while, causing debate on whether to change the law so that first-born women may also inherit the throne. Indeed, according to a 2019 Kyodo News survey, "81.9 percent of the public are in favor of Japan having a reigning empress."
However, Emperor Naruhito's brother, Fumihito, had a son in 2006, and so the line of succession will see the throne pass to the now-Crown Prince Fumihito and then his son, Hisahito.
3. Her name breaks royal tradition.
In opposition the usual tradition of the grandfather naming the newborn (in this case Emperor Akihito) Princess Aiko's parents, decided to name their own child. Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako chose the name 'Aiko' as their daughter's personal name. The meaning of the characters of the name are as following: 'ai' means 'love,' and 'ko' means 'child.' Therefore, Aiko directly translates to 'love child,' which is a beautiful yet bittersweet name. They also chose her imperial title, Princess Toshi, meaning 'a person who respects others.'
The personal name is used usually until the individual becomes heir to the throne, in which case the imperial title is used (Princess Toshi). As the princess will never be heir to the throne, she will go by Princess Aiko.
4. She plays the cello.
During her time at the Gakushuin Primary School, Princess Aiko played the cello for the orchestral music club, and has continued to perform both in high school and for family events as an adult. Her musical talents are maybe genetic—her father, Emperor Naruhito, is a viola player, her grandmother is a talented chamber musician, and her grandfather, Akihito, is also a cellist.
5. She graduated from Gakushūin University.
Princess Aiko majored in Japanese language and literature, and wrote her senior thesis on Princess Shikishi's waka, a type of classical Japanese poetry. Gakushūin is a group of Japanese educational institutions in Tokyo that were originally established to educate children of the Japanese nobility. Today, they offer kindergarten to university classes to everyone, but for a high price. Princess Aiko attended Gakushūin for all of her education, except for a summer college course she took at Eton College in the UK—her first solo stay abroad at age sixteen.
Upon graduating, she stated she was "happy and grateful to have met wonderful teachers and friends."
6. She now works at the Japanese Red Cross Society.
After graduating on March 2024, Princess Aiko stated that she will "strive to balance my official duties and work with awareness and responsibility as a member of society so that I can contribute to society as much as possible, while fulfilling my duties as a member of the Imperial Family."
She started working at the Japanese Red Cross Society in April, saying she hopes to aid survivors of natural disasters, a common issue in Japan due to its position on the active Pacific tectonic plate. At the organization, the princess oversees volunteer training and seminars.
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