Japan's Princess Yuriko Dies at 101

Tokyo, Nov. 15 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Princess Yuriko died of old age at a Tokyo hospital on Friday morning. She was 101.

The princess was the great-aunt of Emperor Naruhito and was the longest-living member of the Imperial Family born in or after the Meiji period (1868-1912).

She passed away at 6:32 a.m. on Friday at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo, where she had been staying since March 3 due to a mild case of cerebral infarction and aspiration pneumonia.

An examination on Oct. 7 found that the functions of her entire body, including her heart and kidneys, were deteriorating. Princess Akiko, Princess Yuriko's granddaughter who returned to Japan on Saturday morning from her visit to Britain in light of her grandmother's deteriorating health, and other members of the Imperial Family as well as other relatives had visited Princess Yuriko.

The princess was born as the second eldest daughter of Viscount Masanari Takagi on June 4, 1923. She married the late Prince Mikasa, youngest brother of Emperor Showa, in October 1941 at the age of 18. She had three sons and two daughters.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]