After a year of traditional preparations and rites, Princess Nori married Tokyo Metropolitan Government employee Yoshiki Kuroda on Tuesday morning as Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko observed their only daughter's last moment as a member of the royal family.
Through the wedding with Kuroda, 40, a commoner, the 36-year-old princess must relinquish her royal title as stipulated by the Imperial House Law. It was the first wedding in 45 years for a reigning emperor's daughter.
The last time a reigning emperor's daughter married and become a commoner was in 1960, when Princess Takako, the fifth daughter of the late Emperor Showa, wed a banker.