Japanese Princess Aiko Turns 24

Tokyo, Dec. 1 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Princess Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, turned 24 on Monday. The princess has spent her days busy yet fulfilling, balancing her work at the Japanese Red Cross Society with her official duties as a member of the Imperial Family. She also gained new experiences, including her first official visit abroad. This year, the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, she joined her parents on their visits to the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa, where a fierce ground battle took place during the final stage of World War II, Nagasaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan, where the United States dropped an atomic bomb in 1945, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Memorial Hall, renewing her strong commitment to peace. As a key figure in the Imperial Family’s international goodwill efforts, Princess Aiko hosted a traditional duck-netting reception for foreign diplomats at the Shinhama Imperial Wild Duck Preserve in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, in February and attended a banquet held at the Imperial Palace for Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was visiting Japan as a state guest, in March. Both events were her first of their kind. During her visit to Laos in November, she met with President Thongloun Sisoulith and other Laotian dignitaries and attended events including a banquet. She expressed her deep appreciation for the hospitality extended to her in Laos and is hoping that friendly relations between Japan and Laos will continue to develop. In May, the princess attended the opening ceremony of a conference of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine in Tokyo and delivered her first address as part of official duties. Princess Aiko, through her visits related to the 80th anniversary of the war’s end, deepened her feelings of remembrance. She expressed heartfelt respect for the war survivors, bereaved families and storytellers who continue to pass on the preciousness of peace and strive to protect it. The princess has also shown concern for areas affected by natural disasters. In May, she visited Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan to inspect the recovery efforts in the Noto Peninsula, which was struck by a major earthquake and torrential rains in 2024. In September, she traveled to the former Yamakoshi village, now part of the city of Nagaoka, in the central Japan prefecture of Niigata, which suffered significant damage from a powerful earthquake in 2004. These visits allowed the princess to learn a lot about the activities of the Red Cross and volunteer groups, and she hopes to apply this knowledge to her work in the Japanese Red Cross Society’s youth and volunteer division. In June, her family suffered the sad loss of their pet dog, Yuri. However, in August, the family welcomed a rescued cat, a female calico. They named her Mimi and cherish her alongside Seven, their nine-year-old cat. For Princess Aiko, spending time with her cats and turtles provides moments of peace and comfort. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]