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Akihito (明仁), (born December 23, 1933) is the current and 125th Emperor
of Japan.
Akihito is the eldest son and the fifth child of the Emperor Showa
(Hirohito) and the Empress Kojun (Nagako). Titled Tsugo no miya (Prince
Tsugo) as a child, he was educated by private tutors and then attended the
Boy's Elementary and Secondary Departments of the then-Peers' School
(Gakushuin after 1947), 1940-52.
During the American fire bombing of Tokyo in March 1945, he and his
younger brother, Prince Masahito (now Prince Hitachi), were evacuated from
Tokyo. During the American occupation of Japan following World War II, Crown
Prince Akihito was tutored in English by Elizabeth Grey Vining. He briefly
studied at the Department of Political Science at Gakushuin University in
Tokyo, although he never received a degree. Although he was heir-apparent to
the Chrysanthemum throne from December 23, 1933, his formal investiture as
Crown Prince (Rittaishi no Rei) was held at Imperial Palace on November 10,
1951.
In June 1953, Crown Prince Akihito represented Japan at the coronation of
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. On April 10, 1959, he married Miss
Shoda Michiko (born October 24, 1934), the eldest daughter of Mr. Shoda
Hidesaburo, the president and later honorary chairman of Nisshin Flour
Miling Company. The marriage broke all precedents as the new Crown Princess
was the first commoner to marry into the imperial family. Then-Crown Prince
Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko made official visits to 37 countries. The
Crown Prince assumed the throne on January 7, 1989 after the death of his
father.
Since succeeding to the throne, the present Emperor has made an effort to
bring the imperial family closer to the Japanese people. He and Empress have
made official visits to 18 countries, as well as all 47 prefectures of
Japan. Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko have three children: Crown Prince
Naruhito (born February 23, 1960), Prince Akishino (Fumihito, born November
11, 1965) and Princess Sayako (titled, Nori no miya, or Princess Nori, born
April 18, 1969).
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