Overview

• Meeting on September 30 at the Imperial Household Agency, the council recognized Princess Nobuko and Princess Akiko as maintaining independent households and designated Akiko as head of the Mikasa family.
• Annual stipends will increase to 30.50 million yen for Princess Nobuko and to 10.675 million yen for Princess Akiko, up from 15.25 million and 6.405 million yen respectively.
• Princess Nobuko will establish a new household titled the Household of Princess Tomohito of Mikasa.
• It is the first time since the war that an unmarried female member of the imperial family has become a house head.
• Princess Yoko will continue activities under the Mikasa name, and the agency says Akiko and Yoko will keep living at the Mikasa East Residence while Nobuko remains separate due to long-standing health reasons.