December Babies: Princess Akiko

Princess Akiko of Mikasa was born on 20 December 1981 in Tokyo to Prince Tomohito and Princess Nobuko.

The elder daughter of the Prince and Princess, she is also the great-granddaughter of Emperor Taishō and niece of former Japanese Prime Minister Tarō Asō.

Her father, Prince Tomohito, died in 2012 after battling cancer. He was 66.

Princess Akiko was educated primarily in Japan, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history from Gakushuin University. She also studied at Merton College, Oxford, for a year, focusing on Japanese art history. She eventually obtained her doctorate at Oxford at the Faculty of Oriental Studies.

While completing her education, the Princess focused on the arts, even assisting with exhibitions and symposiums. She graduated with her doctorate in 2010 – making her only the second Japanese royal to obtain a doctorate (after Japan’s current Crown Prince, Fumihito).

Princess Akiko on a visit to Turkey in 2014. By 外務省ホームページ, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Princess Akiko has continued to work in academia as a professor and in the arts since graduation. She also undertakes some royal duties – taking trips to Turkey, Austria, Chile, and Argentina. She was also present at the Enthronement Ceremony of Emperor Naruhito in 2019 and attends New Year celebrations each year alongside the Imperial Family.