page_title: Empress Masako
section_title: Courtship and marriage
hierarchical_section_title: Empress Masako / Courtship and marriage
context_page_description: Masako is the Empress of Japan as the wife of Naruhito, who ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019.
context_section_description: Masako first met Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan, at a tea for Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo in November 1986, during her studies at the University of Tokyo. The prince was immediately captivated by her and arranged for them to meet several times over the next few weeks. Because of this they were pursued relentlessly by the press throughout 1987.
  However, Masako's name disappeared from the list of possible royal brides due to controversy about her maternal grandfather, Yutaka Egashira, who while working for the Industrial Bank of Japan was assigned to take over management of one of its creditors the Chisso Corporation to prevent it from financial collapse. Chisso, built in the 1930s, dumped the methylmercury used to make acetaldehyde (a chemical in plastic) into the water surrounding Minamata and other towns, causing the infamous Minamata disease and the resulting scandal.
  Despite this controversy and Masako's travelling to Oxford University's Balliol College for the next two years, Naruhito remained interested in her. Masako refused to marry the prince because it would force her to give up her promising career in diplomacy and severely restrict her independence and freedoms. Masako finally accepted his third proposal on 9 December 1992. It was reported that he argued that serving as Crown Princess of Japan would only be "another form of diplomacy" before she finally accepted this third proposal. The Imperial Household Council formally announced the engagement on 19 January 1993; the engagement ceremony was held on 12 April 1993. Although many were surprised at the news, as it was believed that the prince and Masako had separated, the engagement was met with a surge of renewed media attention directed toward the Imperial family and their new princess.
  Masako married Crown Prince Naruhito in a traditional wedding ceremony on 9 June 1993. By virtue of the marriage, Masako Owada assumed the formal style Her Imperial Highness The Crown Princess of Japan. As tradition dictates, upon her entry into the imperial family and like other members, she received a personal emblem (o-shirushi (お印)): rosa rugosa (hamanasu (ハマナス)). In addition, she was placed in the Japanese Imperial Order of Precedence (used for the most formal occasions) behind her mother-in-law, Empress Michiko, and her grandmother-in-law, Empress Dowager Nagako. The orchid flower Dendrobium Masako Kotaishi Hidenka was named in her honour to celebrate the wedding. She became the third commoner to marry into the imperial family, after her mother-in-law and her sister-in-law, Princess Kiko.
  The then-Crown Prince and Crown Princess marked their 20th wedding anniversary in June 2013.
caption: 500-yen coin was issued to commemorate the Imperial Wedding
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