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Empress Masako
Empress Masako · TICAD7 Photographs, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
Person

Empress Masako

b. 1963

Empress consort of Japan

Born
9 Dec 1963 · Toranomon Hospital

Life timeline

Their life from birth to death. On the timeline, world events of the time are shown faintly.

Showing 72 years
  1. 9 Dec 1963BornBorn in Toranomon Hospital
  2. 1993 – 2019RoleCrown Princess of Japan
  3. 1993AwardGrand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry
  4. 1999AwardGrand Cross of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria
  5. 2000AwardGrand Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary
  6. 2008AwardDame Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
  7. 2008AwardGrand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
  8. 2012AwardGrand Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm
  9. 2014AwardOrder of the Crown (Netherlands)
  10. 2015AwardOrder of Sālote Tupou III
  11. 2016AwardGrand Cordon of the Order of Leopold
  12. 2017AwardOrder of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau
  13. 2019RoleEmpress of Japan
  14. 2025AwardGrand Cross of the Order of Rio Branco
  15. 2026AwardOrder of Gabriela Silang

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Meanwhile in the world

Major world events during their lifetime (1963 – today).

  1. 19661966 FIFA World Cup
  2. 1966 – 1976Cultural Revolution
  3. 1968Prague Spring
  4. 1969Apollo 11 Moon landing
  5. 19721972 Summer Olympics
  6. 19741974 FIFA World Cup
  7. 19781978 FIFA World Cup
  8. 1978 – 1979Iranian Revolution
  9. 1979 – 1989Soviet–Afghan War
  10. 1980 – 1988Iran–Iraq War
  11. 19841984 Summer Olympics
  12. 1985Schengen Agreement
  13. 19891989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
  14. 1989Fall of the Berlin Wall
  15. 19901990 FIFA World Cup
  16. 1991Dissolution of the Soviet Union
  17. 19941994 FIFA World Cup
  18. 1994 – 1996First Chechen War
  19. 19981998 FIFA World Cup
  20. 2001 – 2021War in Afghanistan
  21. 2003 – 2011Iraq War
  22. 20042004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
  23. 20062006 FIFA World Cup
  24. 20082008 Summer Olympics
  25. 2008Russo-Georgian War
  26. 20102010 Haiti earthquake
  27. 2010 – 2012Arab Spring
  28. 20112011 Norway attacks
  29. 2011Libyan civil war
  30. 2011 – 2024Syrian civil war
  31. 20122012 Summer Olympics
  32. 20142014 FIFA World Cup
  33. 2014Russo-Ukrainian war
  34. 2015Paris Agreement
  35. 20182018 FIFA World Cup
  36. 2020COVID-19 pandemic
  37. 20212020 Summer Olympics
  38. 2022Russo-Ukrainian war
  39. 2023Gaza war
  40. 20242024 Summer Olympics

Biography

Masako (Japanese: 雅子; born Masako Owada (小和田雅子, Owada Masako); 9 December 1963) is Empress of Japan as the wife of Emperor Naruhito.

Born in Minato, Tokyo, Masako was educated at Belmont High School in Massachusetts, United States, before attending Harvard College. She also studied law at the University of Tokyo and international relations at Balliol College, Oxford. After completing her studies, she worked for Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a diplomat.

Masako met Crown Prince Naruhito in 1986. They married in 1993 and their only child, Aiko, Princess Toshi, was born in 2001. The birth of Princess Aiko fueled the ongoing Japanese imperial succession debate, which had led some politicians to favor rescinding the agnatic primogeniture imposed by the Allies of World War II on the Constitution of Japan. However, with the birth of a son to Naruhito's brother, Fumihito, in 2006, no amendments were made and Princess Aiko remains ineligible to inherit the throne.

The pressure to produce a male heir affected Masako's health. She was diagnosed with adjustment disorder in 2004, which forced her to withdraw from public life periodically. As crown princess and later empress, Masako has accompanied her husband on official visits abroad and at ceremonies in the imperial court.

Text from the Wikipedia article Empress Masako, CC BY-SA 4.0

About this information

Dates and life events come from this person’s Wikidata entry.

We only show events that the sources give a date for. Anything without a date is left out rather than guessed.