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TOKYO – The Japanese princess Ayako married a commoner at a ritual ceremony Monday at the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo.
Ayako and groom Kei Moriya were shown to the national news by slowly walking in front of the guests of the shrine. The wedding took place in one of the pagoda-shaped buildings of the shrine complex and included an exchange of rings and sharing a cup of sake, according to Japanese media.
Both rituals are relatively routine for Shinto-style weddings, including those of ordinary Japanese.
Ayako, 28, is the daughter of the emperor's cousin and Moriya, 32, works for the big shipping company Nippon Yusen.
She wore a Heian-style hairstyle, which is tucked into a ponytail, and a traditional dress dotted with red and green patterns, while Moriya wore a headdress.
Women who marry in the imperial family become family members, but those who marry citizens, like Ayako, must leave.
Ayako bade farewell to Emperor Akihito last week, standing in front of him with a tiara and a pale Western-style dress.
The eldest grandchild of the emperor is to marry a commoner in 2020.
Akihito said that he was going to abdicate. His eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will take the chrysanthemum throne on May 1st.
Ayako and Moriya announced their wedding plans earlier this year. They met because their mothers were friends and immediately went to work, they said.
"We did not feel like we had met for the first time," Ayako told reporters during their engagement.
Moriya said that he had been attracted to his sweet spirit.
"And I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her," he said.
The father of Ayako, Prince Takamado, who actively supported Japanese football, died in 2002.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
On Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/yurikageyama/?hl=en
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This story has been corrected to show that the eldest grandchild of the emperor, not his daughter, is expected to marry in 2020.
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