Atsuko Ikeda

nihongo|Atsuko Ikeda|池田厚子|Ikeda Atsuko, (7 March 1931 - ), formerly Princess Atsuko of Japan, is the fourth daughter and fourth child of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) and Empress Kojun. She is one of two surviving sisters of the Emperor Akihito and has served as the sacred Shinto priestess ("saishu") of Ise Shrine since October 1988. Ikeda was 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.

Princess Atsuko was born at the Imperial Palace at Tokyo in March 1931. Her childhood appellation was "Yori no miya" (Princess Yori). She received her primary and secondary education at the Gakushuin Peeresses School, which was then under the control of the Imperial Household Ministry. During the American occupation of Japan following World War II, she, her elder sister Princess Kazuko (later Takatsukasa Toshimichi), and her younger brothers Crown Prince Akihito and Prince Masahito (later Prince Hitachi) were tutored in English by Elizabeth Grey Vining. She graduated Gakushuin University Women's College in March 1952.

On 10 October 1952, Princess Atsuko married Ikeda Takamasa (21 October 1927 - ), the eldest son of former Marquis Ikeda Nobumasa and a direct descendant of the "daimyo" of Okayama. Upon her marriage, she relinquished her status as a member of the imperial family and became a commoner. The former princess and her husband relocated to Okayama. Ikeda Takamasa, a wealthy cattle rancher, has served as director of the Ikeda Zoo outside of Okayama for over fifty years. In October 1988, Ikeda succeeded her ailing elder sister, Takatsukasa Kazuko, as the most sacred priestess ("saishu") of the Ise Shrine, the ancestral shrine of the imperial dynasty. She also serves as the "sōsai" of the Association of Shinto Shrines. The Ikedas have no children.

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.