In his childhood, he developed an avid interest in history. In a collection of essays by graduates from Gakushuin Primary School, the Emperor wrote that his dream was to become a university teacher of Japanese history and to visit Nara with students.

After graduating from Gakushuin Boys’ Junior High School and Gakushuin Boys’ Senior High School, the Emperor was enrolled in the Department of History of Gakushuin University.

He continued his historical studies at the university’s graduate school from 1982, then studied at Merton College of the University of Oxford for two years from 1983. He visited various places and analyzed historical records to research the history of water transportation along the Thames River during the 18th century.

The new Empress was born on Dec. 9, 1963, in Tokyo, as the first daughter of Hisashi and Yumiko Owada.

The Owada family is from an old established household in Murakami, Niigata Prefecture.

Her father, Hisashi, was a career diplomat whose duties included such positions as administrative vice foreign minister and ambassador to the United Nations. The Empress spent 5½ years of her childhood in New York and Moscow.

The Imperial couple met for the first time on Oct. 18, 1986, at a reception for a Spanish princess at the Togu Palace, the current Akasaka Palace. At that time, the Empress was still a student at the University of Tokyo and had just passed a diplomatic service examination.

“She was reserved, but said clearly what was on her mind,” the Emperor said about his first impression of her at a press conference later. “I felt she was intelligent, and that we had something in common to talk about and were able to have our feelings well understood by each other.”

“Should I give up on [marrying] Ms. Owada?” the Emperor said to his aides in desperation. It was in the autumn of 1991. Receiving a request from the then grand steward of the Imperial Household Agency, former Administrative Vice Foreign Minister Kensuke Yanagiya arranged for the two to be reunited at his home in August 1992, marking their first meeting in about five years.

Two months later, the two went on a date at the Imperial Wild Duck Preserve in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, and the Emperor proposed, saying, “Will you marry me?”

Initially, the Empress declined the proposal, saying she was “not confident.” But the Emperor continued tenaciously persuading her to marry him, and the Empress accepted the proposal in December the same year.

“You may feel anxiety and concerns about entering the Imperial family, but I will protect you with all my might for the rest of my life.” The Emperor’s words swayed her decision to marry him.

The “Kekkon-no-gi” marriage ceremony was held on June 9 the following year. About 190,000 people lined the streets during a parade that followed the ceremony to celebrate the newlyweds.

In May 2001, it was officially announced that the Empress was pregnant.

Princess Aiko was born at 2:43 p.m. on Dec. 1, 2001, at the Imperial Household Agency Hospital. Her honorific title and name, Toshinomiya Aiko, reflected the Imperial couple’s wish to see her grow up as a person who “respects and loves people."
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