The oldest member of Japan’s imperial family and the wife of Emperor Hirohito’s younger brother, Princess Yuriko, has died at the age of 101 after her health deteriorated recently, according to media reports.
Yuriko died in a hospital in Tokyo on Friday, China’s Imperial Household Agency said, providing no further details on the cause of death.
Born in 1923 into an aristocratic family, Yuriko married Prince Mikasa, Hirohito’s younger brother and the great-uncle of the current Emperor Naruhito, when she was 18 just before the outbreak of World War II.
She often recalled the difficult years of the war, including when their home was destroyed in the U.S. firebombing raids on Tokyo in 1945. Afterward, she and her husband, along with their baby daughter, lived in a shelter.
Over the years, Yuriko raised five children, supported her husband’s research in ancient Near [or FAR?]Eastern history, and carried out her royal duties. She was also involved in various charitable activities, including efforts to improve maternal and child health. She outlived her husband and all three of her sons.
Her death reduces Japan’s shrinking imperial family to just 16 members, including only four men. This development raises concerns about the monarchy’s future, as Japan continues to enforce a male-only succession law, which conservatives in the government strongly support.
The 1947 Imperial House Law allows only men to inherit the throne and requires female family members to give up their royal status if they marry commoners.
Currently, the only male heir is Prince Hisahito, the young nephew of Emperor Naruhito, which has led to concerns about the future stability of the succession system. The government is considering how to address this issue.
Yuriko had been healthy for most of her life and remained active into her 100s. She exercised every morning while watching a fitness program on TV, read several newspapers and magazines, and enjoyed watching news and baseball. On sunny days, she would sit in the palace garden or be wheeled around in her wheelchair.
After suffering a stroke and pneumonia in March, Yuriko was hospitalized and had been in and out of intensive care. Her condition had worsened in the past week.
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