Masako (雅子, born Masako Owada (小和田雅子, Owada Masako); 9 December 1963) is Empress of Japan (皇后, kōgō) as the wife of Emperor Naruhito, who ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne following his father's abdication in 2019.
Born in Tokyo, Masako was educated at Belmont High School before attending Harvard College and earning a B.A. magna cum laude in economics. She also studied law at the University of Tokyo and international relations at Balliol College, Oxford. She then worked for Japan's Ministry o...
Masako (雅子, born Masako Owada (小和田雅子, Owada Masako); 9 December 1963) is Empress of Japan (皇后, kōgō) as the wife of Emperor Naruhito, who ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne following his father's abdication in 2019.
Born in Tokyo, Masako was educated at Belmont High School before attending Harvard College and earning a B.A. magna cum laude in economics. She also studied law at the University of Tokyo and international relations at Balliol College, Oxford. She then worked for Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a diplomat. Masako met Crown Prince Naruhito in 1986. The two were married in 1993 and welcomed their only child, Aiko, Princess Toshi in 2001. The birth of their daughter fueled the ongoing Japanese imperial succession debate, which had resulted in some politicians holding a favorable view on rescinding agnatic primogeniture imposed by World War II allies on the constitution of Japan. However, with the birth of a son to Naruhito's brother, Prince Fumihito, in 2006, no amendments to the law were made and Princess Aiko remains at present legally ineligible to inherit the throne, so she cannot succeed her father.
The pressure to produce a male heir took a toll on Masako's health and she was officially diagnosed with adjustment disorder in 2004, which forced her to withdraw from public life periodically. As crown princess and empress, Masako has accompanied her husband on official visits to foreign countries and at ceremonies within the imperial court.
