Japanese Princess Ayako Officially Engaged

August 12, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Princess Ayako, 27, and corporate employee Kei Moriya, 32, were officially engaged at a ceremony in Tokyo on Sunday.

The ceremony for the third daughter of the late Prince Takamado, a cousin of Emperor Akihito, and Moriya, who works for shipping company Nippon Yusen K.K., took place at the residence of the Takamado family.

Their wedding will be held at Meiji Jingu, a major Shinto shrine in Tokyo, on Oct. 29.

This is the first engagement ceremony for the Imperial Family since 2014, when then Princess Noriko, an elder sister of Princess Ayako, was engaged to Kunimaro Senge, the eldest son of the chief priest at Izumo Taisha, a major Shinto shrine in Shimane Prefecture.

On Sunday, Tatsuya Kondo, 76, a relative of Moriya, visited the Takamado family residence as a messenger around 9:45 a.m. (12:45 a.m. GMT). He was received by Princess Ayako and her mother, Princess Hisako.

The ceremony finished in two minutes from 10 a.m., according to the Imperial Household Agency.

Kondo politely offered betrothal gifts of a sea bream, sake and white silk fabric and handed Princess Ayako a list of them. "I am honored to receive them," she said.

In a statement announced after the ceremony, the princess expressed her happiness that the ceremony ended without a problem.

Moriya said he will always keep in mind his gratitude for the opportunity to form the relationship.

Princess Ayako and her mother visited Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko to report her engagement. Jiji Press