is a member of the Imperial House of Japan and the eldest daughter of Norihito, Prince Takamado, and Hisako, Princess Takamado.

Biography

Childhood and education 

Princess Tsuguko was born on 8 March 1986 at Aiiku Hospital in Minami-Azabu, Tokyo. She is the first daughter of Norihito, Prince Takamado and his wife Hisako, Princess Takamado.

She graduated from the Gakushuin Primary School, Gakushuin Girls' Junior and Senior High School. After that, she entered the Faculty of Intercultural Studies of Gakushuin Women's College, but dropped out in March 2005. She attended the University of Edinburgh in Scotland from 13 April 2004 to 1 July 2008, where she studied criminal psychology and sociology, but dropped out.

In March 2013, Princess Tsuguko graduated from the School of International Liberal Studies at Waseda University with a bachelor's degree. She works at the Japan Committee for UNICEF from April 2013.

Duties and appearances

Duties for the Imperial Family 

Princess Tsuguko participates very frequently in the activities of the Imperial family: she came of age on 8 March 2006, when she turned 20. To mark the occasion, she was awarded the 2nd class of the Order of the Precious Crown and attended a press conference in her honour, during which she answered questions from reporters about her future and her past. Since then, she has been able to start taking part in activities on behalf of the Imperial Family.
In 2006, Princess Tsuguko represented the Imperial family at the Silver Wedding anniversary celebrations of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg.

In August 2011, she attended the 28th Tokyo Disabilities Comprehensive Art Exhibition held in the main store of the Seibu Department Stores located in Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo, with her mother Hisako. She was also taken in the photo with the laureate. In August 2013 she paid an official visit to Sri Lanka at the invitation of then President Mahinda Rajapaksa. In March 2015, the Princess and her mother met Crown Prince Frederik and his wife Crown Princess Mary of Denmark during their state visit to Japan and attended some official events with them, such as the opening ceremony of the exhibition "The Spiritual Greenland" at Hillside Forum in Daikanyama.

In May 2015, she visited Watari Town, Watari District, Miyagi Prefecture, which had been damaged because of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, with her mother Hisako. She visited and inspected the 2nd Regional Coast Guard Headquarters of the Japan Coast Guard. After that, she also visited the Marine Rescue Miyagi, the regional organization of Marine Rescue Japan (her mother Hisako officiates as honorary president), laid flowers to the victims and gave a message of sympathy to the members.

In January 2018, she succeeded her mother as "Honorary President of the All Japan Archery Federation" and the following month, in February, she became "Honorary Chairman of the Japan Squash Association". Since then she has taken part in events organized by these organizations.

On 22 May 2018, Princess Tsuguko attended a "Panel for Life" event held at Haneda Airport, Tokyo, and gave a speech about her experience with animals. The Princess attended the "60th All Japan Hospital Association conference" on 6 October 2018 at Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba, Tokyo. She read her opening speech to those present and spoke to them. On 25 November 2018, Tsuguko attended the "47th All Japan Squash Championships Final" in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, and as Honorary Chairman of the Japan Squash Association, she read her opening speech and congratulated the winners at the end of the match.

Princess Tsuguko attended the "Japan Grand Prix International Orchid and Flower Show" at the Tokyo Dome stadium, Tokyo on 15 February 2019. On 28 April 2019, she attended a ceremony to unveil the completion of the "Yume no Shima Park" archery range in a Tokyo district, and being patroness of the "All Japan Archery Federation", she gave a speech and spoke to those present. On 10 August 2019, Princess Tsuguko visited Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, to attend the "Archery finals of the Inter-High School General Sports Championships". At the end of the competitions, Tsuguko presented the prizes to the winners and congratulated with them. On 4 and 5 October 2019, Princess Tsuguko visited Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture to attend the "74th National Sports Festival". She was greeted by the people when she arrived at the town hall and talked to them. On 17 November 2019, Princess Tsuguko attended the "48th All Japan Squash Championships Final" at Tressa Yokohama Mall in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, as Honorary President of Japan Squash Association. On 5 December 2019, Tsuguko visited the National Art Center in Minato, Tokyo for the exhibition "Treasures from Budapest: European and Hungarian Masterpieces from the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest and the Hungarian National Gallery" together with the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán. 

On 27 and 28 February 2021, Princess Tsuguko attended the "Kyoto Congress Youth Forum", in Kyoto. She read her opening speech. On 21 August 2021, Princess Tsuguko virtually attended the awards and closing ceremony of the archery competition of the "Inter-High School Championships" in Fukui Prefecture, as Honorary President of the All Japan Archery Federation. The Princess attended the "1st Global Youth Forum for a Culture of Lawfulness" in Tokyo on 9 and 10 October 2021. 

 

Princess Tsuguko attended the "2022 Inter-High School Archery Competition" in Marugame, Kagawa Prefecture, on 10 August 2022. She presented the prizes to the winners and spoke to them, congratulating them. On 21 September 2022, Princess Tsuguko attended the "Peace Symposium Tokyo 2022" in Tokyo and gave a speech to those in attendance. Later that same day, she attended a reception with Rahm Emanuel, United States ambassador to Japan, at his residence in Tokyo.
Princess Tsuguko attended the state funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on 27 September 2022 in Tokyo with her mother, Hisako, Princess Takamado. On 4 October 2022, Princess Tsuguko opened the "Yamanashi Jewelry Exhibition" at the Embassy of Oman in Tokyo, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Oman and Japan. From 8 to 9 October 2022, Princess Tsuguko visited Tochigi Prefecture for the "77th National Sports Festival". On the 9th, she visited the Prefectural Museum and took part in sports-related exhibitions. The Princess attended the "2nd Global Youth Forum for a Culture of Lawfulness" in Kyoto on 3 and 4 December 2022, and gave a keynote address to those present at the opening of the event. On 18 December 2022, she attended the "2022 Empress's Cup All Japan Volleyball Championship Final" at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Shibuya, Tokyo. At the end of the match, Princess Tsuguko took pictures with the winners. 

On 5 March 2023, Princess Tsuguko attended the celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Croatia and Japan. The event took place at the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Shibuya, Tokyo. On 11 April 2023, the Princess and her mother Hisako, Princess Takamado met King Abdullah II and Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan at their accommodation during their state visit in Japan from 7 to 12 April. On 11 May 2023, Princess Tsuguko joined the rest of the Imperial Family with her mother to attend the first Spring Garden Party of the Reiwa era at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens, Tokyo. From 29 May to 3 June 2023, Princess Tsuguko and her mother paid an official visit to Jordan to attend the wedding of Hussein, Crown Prince of Jordan, and Rajwa Al Saif. However, they also took part in other events in the country: on 30 May 2023, Tsuguko visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, the capital of Jordan, together with her mother. The two talked to the refugees, took pictures with them and listened to their life experiences; also the same day, Tsuguko and her mother visited "UNICEF supported Makani centre" in Amman. Tsuguko talked to the children present and took pictures with them; on 31 May 2023 Tsuguko attended the ceremony to announce the creation and establishment of the Jordanian-Japanese Friendship Association at the Four Seasons Hotel in Amman. At the event, she met Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, his wife Princess Sarvath El Hassan, their daughter Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan and Princess Wijdan Al Hashemi; on the same day, Tsuguko visited "BirdLife International Middle East" at The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, the partner of BirdLife in Jordan; on 1 June 2023, Princess Tsuguko and her mother attended the wedding of Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa at Zahran Palace. Before the start of the ceremony, both expressed their best wishes to the parents of the groom, King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan and at the end of the ceremony the Princesses congratulated the bride and groom; the same evening the Princesses attended the wedding banquet hosted at Al Husseiniya Palace; on 2 June 2023, Tsuguko and her mother visited a Japanese complementary school in Jordan, talked to the facility's teachers, and took pictures with those present; on 3 June 2023, Princess Tsuguko and her mother returned to Japan. This was her first official visit abroad, as previous visits to foreign countries by the Princess have been considered private by the Imperial Household Agency.On 10 August 2023, Princess Tsuguko attended the "2023 National High School (Inter-High) Archery Competition" in Obihiro, Hokkaido Prefecture, as patroness of the "All Japan Archery Federation". At the end of the competitions, she presented the prizes to the winners and congratulated them.

The Imperial Family takes part in annual events that Princess Tsuguko also attends, and these events can be, for example, New Year's ceremonies: these are New Year's receptions every 1 January; New Year's greetings every 2 January; the "Imperial New Year's Poetry Reading" (Utakai Hajime) and the "Imperial New Year's Lectures" (Kousho Hajime) ceremonies on different days in January. Other events are the memorial services for her relatives: that for her uncle Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, that for her uncle Yoshihito, Prince Katsura, that for her grandfather Takahito, Prince Mikasa, and that for her father Norihito, Prince Takamado, which are held at their graves respectively every 6 June, every 8 June, every 27 October and every 21 November, the days of their deaths.

Role and activities in UNICEF 

In addition to activities on behalf of the Imperial Family, Tsuguko works at the Japan Committee for UNICEF from April 2013 and plays an active role in representing it. 

On 19 February 2018, Princess Tsuguko traveled to Kumamoto Prefecture to attend a conference on sports and children's rights and acted as a lecturer. Her lecture was attended by 100 participants who asked her questions about the work of UNICEF. Princess Tsuguko, in her UNICEF role, met King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden during their state visit to Japan from 22 to 25 April 2018 at "UNICEF House" in Tokyo where she gave them a tour of the exhibition on the international work of UNICEF and introduced them to the work of the Japanese branch of UNICEF. Princess Tsuguko visited a school in Midorioka, Ibaraki Prefecture, on 28 November 2018, to talk to the children of the school about the importance of water and the need not to waste it; she also spoke about the problems that children from the most remote areas of the world have in being able to use it.

On 1 November 2019, Tsuguko traveled to Chuo University Tama Campus in Hachioji, Tokyo to participate in the conference "The Current Status and Challenges of Immunization in Africa and Asia: How to Deliver Vaccines to Children in Developing Countries" organized by the UNICEF and her, who is indeed the speaker. Tsuguko spoke to the children present about the importance of vaccines and the consequences of not getting them.

From 11 to 13 May 2022, Princess Tsuguko visited Miyazaki Prefecture as part of a UNICEF tour. She gave a presentation to elementary and middle classes at a local school on the conditions of children around the world, then visited government offices of the Prefecture, and met with members of Miyazaki's UNICEF group. On 9 September 2022, Tsuguko went to an elementary school in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, where she spent time with the children, which she explained the current situation of children all over the world suffering from war and poverty.

Health 
In mid-July 2022, Princess Tsuguko tested positive for COVID-19. The Imperial Household Agency reported that she was asymptomatic and would recover at home.

Titles and styles

Tsuguko is styled as Her Imperial Highness Princess Tsuguko.

Honours

National honours
 Member 2nd Class (Peony) of the Order of the Precious Crown -

Ancestry

References

External links

Japanese princesses
1986 births
Living people
People from Minato
People from Tokyo
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh

Order of the Precious Crown members
20th-century Japanese women
21st-century Japanese women