Father Emperor Showa House Imperial House of Japan Name Atsuko Ikeda | Religion Shinto Mother Empress Kojun Parents Empress Kojun, Hirohito | |
 | ||
Born 7 March 1931 (age 93)
Tokyo Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan ( 1931-03-07 ) Spouse Takamasa Ikeda (m. 1952–2012) Siblings Akihito, Kazuko Takatsukasa, Takako Shimazu, Shigeko Higashikuni, Masahito, Prince Hitachi, Sachiko, Princess Hisa Cousins Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, Yoshihito - Prince Katsura, Norihito - Prince Takamado, Masako Sen, Yasuko Konoe Similar People Hirohito, Takako Shimazu, Shigeko Higashikuni, Akihito, Empress Kojun | ||
How to Make Sushi Rolls with Japanese chef Atsuko Ikeda
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 of Emperor Akihito. She married Takamasa Ikeda on 10 October 1952. As a result, she gave up her imperial title and left the Japanese Imperial Family, as required by law.
Contents
- How to Make Sushi Rolls with Japanese chef Atsuko Ikeda
- Biography
- Titles and styles
- National honours
- References
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 Gakushūin Peer’s School, and was also tutored along with her siblings in English language by an American tutor, Elizabeth Gray 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 Takamasa Ikeda, 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 groom's father and the bride's mother, the Empress, were first cousins, making the couple first cousins once removed.
The former princess relocated to Okayama Prefecture, where her husband, a wealthy cattle rancher, 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 served as the Chairperson of the Association of Shinto Shrines until June 2017.
The Ikedas had no children.