Sayako Kuroda
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Sayako Kuroda (Japanese: 黒田清子, Kuroda Sayako) (born 18 April 1969), formerly Her Imperial Highness The Princess Nori (Sayako) of Japan (紀宮清子内親王殿下, Nori-no-miya Sayako naishinnō), is the third child and only daughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan. She married Yoshiki Kuroda on 15 November 2005. As a result, she gave up her royal title and left the Japanese Imperial Family, as required by law.
Education
Princess Nori studied at and graduated from the Department of Japanese Language and Literature, Faculty of Letters, Gakushuin University, in 1992. Later in the year she was accepted as research associate at the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology. In 1998, she was appointed researcher at the same institute. She contributed articles about birds to various academic works.
Apart from her research, she has traveled extensively abroad and within Japan, as a representative of the Imperial family.
Engagement and marriage
On 30 December 2004, the Imperial Household Agency announced the engagement of Princess Nori to Yoshiki Kuroda, a 40 year old urban designer with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and a longtime friend of Prince Akishino. Upon her marriage, which took place at a Tokyo hotel on 15 November 2005, Princess Nori left the Imperial Family, taking the surname of her husband, the first commoner of non-aristocratic background to marry an imperial princess. These changes in her status are demanded by a 1947 law that requires female members of the Imperial Family to relinquish their birth position, official membership in the royal family, and allowance upon their marriage. Her parents, the Emperor and Empress, were in attendance at the wedding, as were Crown Prince Naruhito, Crown Princess Masako and other members of the Imperial Family.
Kuroda resigned from her job as an ornithologist in order to focus on her family life and potential motherhood. While she will no longer be entitled to a royal allowance, she reportedly received a dowry of over 1 million dollars.
External links
- [Kunaicho] — Her Imperial Highness Princess Sayako
- [Kunaicho] — Responses to Questions on the Occasion of the Birthday of Her Imperial Highness Princess Sayako (2005)
- [Hello! magazine] — Article on Sayako and Yoshiki Kuroda's wedding
- [BBC News] — The wedding takes place
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