Atsuko Ikeda

Atsuko, Princess Yori 順宮厚子内親王
Princess Yori
Princess Atsuko, c. 1951
Born	(1931-03-07) 7 March 1931 Tokyo Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan
Spouse	Takamasa Ikeda (1952–2012; his death)
Full name Atsuko (厚子)
House	Imperial House of Japan
Father	Emperor Shōwa
Mother	Empress Kōjun
Religion	Shinto

Atsuko Ikeda (池田厚子, Ikeda Atsuko, born 7 March 1931), formerly Atsuko, Princess Yori (順宮厚子内親王, Yori-no-miya Atsuko Naishinnō), is the widow of Marquis Takamasa Ikeda (池田隆政, Ikeda Takamasa, 21 October 1926 – 21 July 2012) and fourth daughter of Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun. As such, she is the older sister to Emperor Akihito.

Biography

Princess Atsuko was born at the Tokyo Imperial Palace. Her childhood appellation was Yori-no-miya (順宮).

As with her elder sisters, she was not raised by her biological parents, but by a succession of court ladies at a separate palace built for her and her elder sisters in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo. She graduated from the Gakushuin Peer’s School, and was also tutored along with her siblings in English language by an American tutor, Elizabeth Grey Vining during the American occupation of Japan following World War II. She graduated Gakushuin University Women's College in March 1952.

On 10 October 1952, Princess Yori married Ikeda Takamasa, the eldest son of former Marquis Nobumasa Ikeda and a direct descendant of the last daimyō of Okayama Domain, whom she had met at a Japanese tea ceremony at Kōraku-en gardens. The couple were engaged after only six months, but wedding plans had to be postponed due to the death of her grandmother Empress Teimei in 1951 and subsequent period of mourning. Upon her marriage, Princess Yori became the second daughter of an emperor to relinquish her status as a member of the Japanese imperial family and become a commoner upon marriage, in accordance with the 1947 Imperial Household Law.

The former princess relocated to Okayama Prefecture, where her husband, a wealthy cattle rancher, has served as director of the Ikeda Zoo outside of Okayama city for over fifty years.

In 1965, she was hospitalized with sepsis, which was a cause of great concern for the Imperial Family, as her elder sister Shigeko Higashikuni had already died of stomach cancer.

In October 1988, Ikeda succeeded her ailing elder sister, Kazuko Takatsukasa, as the most sacred priestess (saishu) of the Ise Shrine. She also serves as the Chairperson of the Association of Shinto Shrines.

The Ikedas had no children.

Titles and styles

Styles of Atsuko, Princess Yori (before her marriage)
Reference style	Her Imperial Highness
Spoken style	Your Imperial Highness
Alternative style	Ma'am

• 7 March 1931 – 10 October 1952: Her Imperial Highness The Princess Yori
• 10 October 1952 – present: Mrs. Takamasa Ikeda

Honours

See also List of honours of the Japanese Imperial Family by country

National honours

• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown

Ancestry

Family of Atsuko Ikeda

16. Osahito, Emperor Kōmei               8. Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji                       17. Lady Yoshiko Nakayama               4. Yoshihito, Emperor Taishō                             18. Count Takamitsu Yanagihara               9. Lady Naruko Yanagihara                       19. Lady Utano Hasegawa               2. Hirohito, Emperor Shōwa                                   20. Prince Kujō Hisatada, Regent of Japan               10. Prince Kujō Michitaka of the Fujiwara Clan                       21. Lady Tsuneko Karahashi               5. Lady Sadako Kujō                             22. Yorioki Noma               11. Lady Ikuko Noma                       23. Lady Kairi Yamokushi               1. Atsuko, Princess Yori                                         24. Prince Fushimi Kuniie               12. Asahiko, 1st Imperial Prince Kuni                       25. Lady Nobuko Toriikōji               6. Kuniyoshi, 2nd Imperial Prince Kuni                             26. Sir Toshimasu Izumitei               13. Lady Makiko Izumi                       27. Lady Mako Yatoshi               3. Princess Nagako of Kuni                                   28. Prince Shimazu Hisamitsu               14. Prince Shimazu Tadayoshi                       29. Lady Chimoko Shimazu of Echizen-Shimazu               7. Princess Chikako Shimazu                             30. ?               15. Lady Sumako Yamazaki                       31. ?

Gallery

• 

  Atsuko Ikeda at the Ise Shrine in Ise City, Mie Prefecture, in November 2009.

• 

  Princess Atsuko with her brother, Prince Akihito, and her sister, Princess Takako, in September 1950

• 

  Emperor Shōwa's daughters

• 

  Emperor Showa's family in 1945

Sources

• Foreign Affairs Association of Japan, The Japan Year Book (Tokyo: Kenkyusha Press, 1939–40, 1941–42, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1947–48).
• Takie Sugiyama Lebra, Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992).
• "Hirohito's Daughter Wed: Princess Yori Married to Tokyo Commoner by Shinto Rites," New York Times 10 October 1952.