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Courtesy of Imperial Household Agency Princess Yuriko spends time with her husband, Prince Mikasa, in the Akasaka Estate in Tokyo in November 2015.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
2:00 JST, November 16, 2024
Princess Yuriko spent 83 years of her life as a member of the Imperial family after marrying Prince Mikasa, the youngest brother of Emperor Showa, in 1941.
The princess, who passed away on Friday at 101, raised five children while supporting her husband, who died in 2016, through wartime and postwar years. In her own later years, she spent her days peacefully at her residence.
The princess also served as a witness to history, through a series of interviews for a biography of Prince Mikasa published in December 2022. In the presence of her daughters Yasuko Konoe, 80, and Masako Sen, 73, and her granddaughter Princess Akiko, she spoke about her memories of her late husband of 75 years with humor.
“There was no explanation whatsoever, not even a rehearsal. It was just an off-the-cuff thing,” the princess said in an interview, recalling her wedding day.
She married Prince Mikasa on Oct. 22, 1941. Having only recently graduated from the Gakushuin Women’s Academy, she had been crying all morning that day, she confessed.
At the height of the second Sino-Japanese War, the wedding ceremonies were simplified, with no interviews held with newspapers. Their new residence in the Akasaka Estate in Tokyo’s Motoakasaka district was burned down in an air raid in May 1945, forcing the couple to live in an air-raid shelter.
“It was so unhygienic that I was outside all day,” she recalled.
After the end of the war, the princess devoted herself to supporting the activities of the prince, who became a scholar of ancient Oriental history. She accompanied him on field trips to the Middle East and Asia and filmed visits with an 8mm camera. When he gave lectures, she prepared the slides to be used and was in charge of projection.
With deep feelings for her family, the princess never failed to visit the graves of her husband and three sons — her third son Prince Takamado who died in 2002, her eldest son Prince Tomohito who died in 2012 and her second son Prince Katsura who died in 2014.
According to Imperial Household Agency sources, she spent her later years at her residence, doing rehabilitation exercises and relaxing in the sun in the garden when the weather was fine. She made it a routine to read several newspapers every morning and enjoyed watching live baseball games on television.
She always took good care of her appearance and had her hair and nails done at a hairdresser she patronized regularly.
“While leading the family, the princess remained elegant and dignified until the end of her life,” said one of those who supported and served her.
