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Naruhito (徳仁),
Crown Prince of
Japan (Hiro no miya Naruhito Shinno or Naruhito Kotaishi), born at Tsugo
Palace, Tokyo
February 23,
1960) is the elder son of the Emperor
Akihito and the Empress
Michiko. Titled Prince Hiro (Hiro no miya) as a child, he
became heir apparent upon the death of his grandfather, the Emperor
Showa (Hirohito), on
January 7, 1989.
He received a bachelor's and master's degree in history
from Gakuishuin University in
1982 and
1988, respectively. On
May 6,
1993, he married
Masako Owada (b.
December 6,
1963), a career diplomat in the Japanese Foreign Ministry and the
daughter of Hishahi Owada, a former vice foreign minister and former
ambassador to the United Nations.
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess have one child, Aiko
(her official title is Toshi no miya, or Princess Toshi), born on
December 1,
2001. The child's birth, which occured more than eight years after her
parents' marriage, has sparked lively debate in Japan about whether laws of
succession should be changed to allow a woman to inherit the Chrysanthemum
throne.
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