{"id":60775,"date":"2026-07-19T15:25:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T15:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/60775\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T15:25:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T15:25:39","slug":"japanese-royal-family-tree-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/60775\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Royal Family Tree, Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated5 min read<\/p>\n

The Japan Imperial Family<\/a> continues to shrink; as of this writing, it only has 16 members. Yet, a new law passed in July 2026 is attempting to reverse this trend<\/a>: Now, women in the family will not lose their royal status should they marry a commoner. There are currently eight living former imperial princesses: women who were born royal but lost their status upon marriage to a non-royal, like former Princess Mako<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The law also expands the line of succession to the Chrysanthemum throne<\/a> in Japan past three men: Emperor Naruhito\u2019s brother Crown Prince Fumihito, Fumihito\u2019s 19-year-old son Prince Hisahito<\/a>, and Emperor Emeritus Akihito\u2019s younger brother, 90-year-old Prince Hitachi. Only male descendants in the male line are eligible to inherit the throne; now, the Imperial Family can adopt distant male relatives over the age of 15 to add them to the line of succession.<\/p>\n

Here, a guide to Emperor Naruhito<\/a>\u2019s family, the current Japanese royal family tree\u2014including two women who no longer have their princess title:<\/p>\n

\"japaneseDesign by Michael Stillwell<\/p>\n

The Japanese royal family tree.<\/p>\n

Emperor Emeritus Akihito\"EmperorJun Sato\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Akihito in 2014.<\/p>\n

b. 1933<\/p>\n

Akihito, the eldest son of Emperor Hirohito (b. 1901, d. 1989) and Empress Nagako (b. 1903, d. 2000) is currently the longest-living Japanese emperor in verifiable history. He abdicated in 2019, the first Japanese emperor to abdicate the Chrysanthemum Throne<\/a> in over two centuries.<\/p>\n

Empress Emerita Michiko\"ARCHIVESLangevin Jacques\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

An undated portrait of Michiko.<\/p>\n

b. 1934<\/p>\n

Michiko Sh\u014dda is the second child of Hidesabur\u014d Sh\u014dda (b. 1903, d. 1999) and Fumiko Soejima (b. 1909, d. 1988). In 1957, she met then-Crown Prince Akihito on a tennis court, and the couple got engaged in 1958 and married in 1959. She was the first commoner to marry into the Imperial Family. Akhitio and Michiko have three children: Naruhito, Fumihito, and Sayako (see below for all three).<\/p>\n

Emperor Naruhito\"EmperorPool\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Emperor Naruhito in 2020.<\/p>\n

b. 1960<\/p>\n

The eldest son of Akihito and Michiko, Naruhito acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019<\/a> following his father\u2019s abdication. He is the current Emperor of Japan.<\/p>\n

He met Masako Owada (see below) in 1986; they got engaged in 1993 and married later that year. They have one daughter, Aiko, Princess Toshi (see below).<\/p>\n

Empress Masako\"TheMax Mumby\/Indigo\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Empress Masako in 2024.<\/p>\n

b. 1963<\/p>\n

Masako Owada is the daughter of Yumiko Egashira (b. 1938) and Hisashi Owada (b. 1932), former president of the International Court of Justice. She has two younger sisters, twins Setsuko and Reiko (b. 1966). She attended Harvard for undergrad, and studied law at University of Tokyo and international relations at Oxford University. After graduating, she worked as a diplomat for Japan\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n

Upon her marriage, she became the Crown Princess, and upon her father-in-law\u2019s abdication, she became Empress Masako.<\/p>\n

Princess Aiko\"Japan'sYuichi Yamazaki\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Princess Aiko in 2021.<\/p>\n

b. 2001<\/p>\n

Aiko, Princess Toshi<\/a> is the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako. She currently carries out royal duties while working at the Red Cross<\/a>. After graduating from Gakush\u016bin University in March 2024, Princess Aiko stated<\/a> that she will \u201cstrive to balance my official duties and work with awareness and responsibility as a member of society so that I can contribute to society as much as possible, while fulfilling my duties as a member of the Imperial Family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fumihito, Crown Prince Akishino\"WorldToru Hanai\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Crown Prince last year.<\/p>\n

b. 1965<\/p>\n

Prince Akishino, the younger brother of Emperor Naruhito and the younger son of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, is the current heir to the throne. His investiture as Crown Prince was held in 2020, and he is a working member of the Imperial Family.<\/p>\n

In 1990, he married Kiko Kawashima (see below), and they have three children: Mako, Kako, and Hisahito (see below for all three). He often represents his brother abroad, including at the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kiko, Crown Princess Akishino\"FumihitoYOSHIKAZU TSUNO\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Princess Kiko in February 2025.<\/p>\n

b. 1966<\/p>\n

Kiko Kawashima is the daughter of Tatsuhiko Kawashima (b. 1940, d. 2021) and Kazuyo Sugimoto (b. 1942). She became a princess upon her 1990 marriage to Fumihito.<\/p>\n

Mako Komuro\"EmperorCarl Court\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Then-Princess Mako in 2019.<\/p>\n

b. 1991<\/p>\n

The eldest child of Kiko and Fumihito, Mako graduated from the International Christian University (ICU) in 2014, and then studied art history at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Leicester. While a student at ICU, she met Kei Komuro<\/a> (see below), and the two got engaged.<\/p>\n

Their 2018 wedding was postponed to 2021, and Mako lost her royal status. She refused the Japanese government\u2019s taxpayer-funded payment $1.3 million, becoming the first woman from the Imperial Family to forgo the gift. In 2021, Mako moved to New York City<\/a>, and in 2025, she and Kei welcomed their first child<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kei Komuro\"CelebrityMEGA\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Kei Komuro leaves his New York City home, April 2022.<\/p>\n

b. 1991<\/p>\n

Mako\u2019s husband Kei Komuro is a lawyer. He graduated from Fordham University School of Law in New York in 2021, and passed the bar in 2022. He now works<\/a> as Associate in the Global Trade & National Security group at Lowenstein Sandler.<\/p>\n

Princess Kako\"BRAZIL-JAPAN-DIPLOMACY-ROYALS\"SERGIO LIMA\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Princess Kako earlier this year.<\/p>\n

b. 1994<\/p>\n

Kiko and Fumihito\u2019s second child, Princess Kako, is a working member of the Imperial Family. She graduated from International Christian University in 2019. She now is is part-time employee at the Japanese Federation of the Deaf, and honorary patron of the Japan Tennis Association, among other roles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Prince Hisahito \"JAPAN-ROYALS-HISAHITO-SUCCESSION\"STR\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Prince Hisahito attends his coming-of-age ceremony, Choken-no-Gi, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on September 6, 2025.<\/p>\n

b. 2006<\/p>\n

The youngest member of the Imperial Family, Prince Hisahito is second in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne. His coming-of-age ceremony was held in September 2025<\/a>. He is currently a student at the University of Tsukuba.<\/p>\n

Sayako Kuroda \"PrincessPool\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Sayako Kuroda, right, a news conference with her husband, Yoshiki Kuroda, following their wedding ceremony, November 2005.<\/p>\n

b. 1969<\/p>\n

The youngest child and only daughter of Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko, Sayako lost her royal status upon her November 2005 marriage to Yoshiki Kuroda. She is currently the supreme priestess of Ise Shrine, a role she was appointed to in 2017. \u201cThe post of supreme priest or priestess leads Shinto priests at the religion\u2019s holiest shrine. It has been assumed by current or former female Imperial family members since the end of World War II,\u201d per the Japan Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other living members of the Japanese Imperial Family\"JAPAN-ARTS-AWARD\"BEHROUZ MEHRI\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Prince and Princess Hitachi in 2018.<\/p>\n

Prince Hitachi (b. 1935), the second son of the Emperor Sh\u014dwa and Empress Kojun, and his wife Hanako, Princess Hitachi (b. 1940). The couple have no children.Nobuko, Princess Tomohito of Mikasa (b. 1955), the widow of the late Prince Tomohito (b. 1946, d. 2012). She has two daughters, Princess Akiko (b. 1981) and Princess Y\u014dko (b. 1983), neither of whom are married.\"Play\"VideoHisako, Princess Takamado (b. 1953), the widow of Norihito, Prince Takamado (b. 1954, d. 2002). She has three daughters, but only one remains a member of the Imperial Family: Princess Tsuguko (b. 1986).<\/p>\n

Both Princes Tomohito and Takamado were first cousins once removed of Emperor Naruhito.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Emily Burack (she\/her) is the Deputy Digital Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"5 min read The Japan Imperial Family continues to shrink; as of this writing, it only has 16…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6517,37023,39581,318,12818,8,17,317,16087,39580,34602,6515],"class_list":["post-60775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-japan","tag-collection-royal-family-news","tag-content-type-news-explainer","tag-contentid-29ada183-e431-4a95-877e-73fb5e2e794f","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-japan","tag-japanese","tag-locale-us","tag-read_time-5","tag-shorttitle-a-guide-to-the-japanese-royal-family-tree","tag-sponsored-false","tag-subsection-heritage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}