Japan’s Prince Hisahito’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony to be Held in Spring 2025 or Later

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:31 JST, August 31, 2023

The coming-of-age ceremony for Prince Hisahito, the son of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, will be held in spring 2025 or later following his high school graduation, the Imperial Household Agency said Wednesday.

The prince will turn 18 on Sept. 6 next year and become an adult member of the Imperial family. The agency has included ¥2.578 million in its budget request for fiscal 2024 to cover the cost of making a crown, which will be presented by the Emperor to the prince.

The Coming of Age Kakan-no-Gi (Crown Wearing) Ceremony is one of the events held for men in the Imperial family when they come of age and wear a crown for the first time.

Ceremonies were held for the Emperor and the Crown Prince on their 20th birthdays.

Prince Hisahito will be considered an adult when he turns 18 in September 2024, following the revision of the Civil Code in 2022. As he will still be in high school at that time, it was decided to delay the ceremony so as not to affect his studies.

The agency said Prince Hisahito will wear the traditional clothes Crown Prince Akishino wore during his coming-of-age ceremony.

The agency’s budget request also included the addition of a fifth doctor who will help examine the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Emerita.