The date of the wedding between Princess Ayako — the youngest daughter of Emperor Akihito's late cousin, Prince Takamado — and commoner Kei Moriya was officially set for Oct. 29 in a traditional ceremony held Wednesday.
In the Kokki no Gi rite held at the Takamado residence in Tokyo, a relative of Moriya acting as his messenger announced the date to Princess Ayako in the presence of her mother, Princess Hisako. It was one of a string of traditional rites set to precede their marriage.
"I gratefully accept," the 28-year-old princess told 76-year-old Tatsuya Kondo, a former head of the Center Hospital of the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, according to the Imperial Household Agency.