Prince Hisahito Enjoying Student Life While Preparing for 19th Birthday

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, September 6, 2025

Prince Hisahito, the son of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, who is a first-year student at the University of Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture, is turning 19 on Saturday. He will attend his coming-of-age ceremony on the day.

Prince Hisahito has been actively participating in classes, school events and club activities with his new friends since he entered the university’s School of Life and Environmental Sciences’ College of Biological Sciences this April. He has been enjoying a fulfilling campus life, according to the Imperial Household Agency.

At a sports festival held in May, he joined the dodgeball competition. He also worked at a food stall selling baby castella sponge cakes during a dormitory festival in June, further strengthening his friendships.

He splits his time between his residence in the Akasaka Estate in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, and an apartment near the university. Prince Hisahito sometimes commutes to school by bicycle from his apartment, also using it to get around the spacious campus. He enjoys observing plants and animals, as well as taking walks around the campus.

This year marks 80 years since the end of World War II, and to learn about the history of Japanese people detained in Siberia, Prince Hisahito visited the Maizuru Repatriation Memorial Museum in Kyoto Prefecture in February.

In July, he attended with his family an exhibition in Tokyo commemorating the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. According to the agency, he seemed to strengthen his resolve for peace.

On July 30, he met elementary and junior high school students from Okinawa who traveled to Tokyo as child reporters. According to participants, he shared his memories of visiting Okinawa on his high school trip and high-fived the children as he saw them off.

In preparation for his coming-of-age ceremony, he has listened to advice from his father, Prince Akishino, reviewed historical footage and even took part in rehearsals. According to aides, Prince Hisahito is making heartfelt efforts in his preparations.

‘He enjoys ordinary campus life’

University of Tsukuba President Kyosuke Nagata spoke to the press about Prince Hisahito’s campus life. “He eats lunch with his classmates and made baby castella cakes at a dormitory festival — he is living just like an ordinary student,” Nagata said.

According to the president, he is often seen chatting with friends while pushing his bicycle along the route to class and is usually surrounded by many companions while on campus. Faculty members treat him no differently from other students.

He has participated in fieldwork, observing plants and animals on campus, as part of his classes for the College of Biological Sciences. His interests are broadening beyond dragonflies, which he has studied for years, to include other living creatures.

Nagata has offered encouragement, saying: “University is a place to discover and learn things on your own. It is important that [Prince Hisahito] experiences inconveniences when they arise just like any other student. I hope he enjoys his time here while interacting with many people.”