Princess Noriyuki’s personal marriage

Kuroda Yoshiki and Princess Norimiya’s second brother, Akishinonomiya, are classmates in the Gakushuin. After graduation, they have maintained close contact with Akishinonomiya and his wife. He often went to Akishino Palace to play with since he was in the second grade of Gakushuin Elementary School, and he met Princess Norimiya at that time, so the two of them can be said to be childhood sweethearts.

As early as October 1993, Kuroda Yoshiki was listed as a candidate for marriage to Norimiya by a weekly magazine. This summer, when Kuroda Yoshiki was having a gathering with his college classmates, someone joked: "I'm going to marry Norimiya." But Kuroda just smiled and was noncommittal, but the classmate's joke came true soon after.

Kuroda Yoshiki has actually met the emperor and empress since he was very young. From the beginning of the elementary school at Gakushuin until university, Kuroda Yoshiki had been a close friend with Prince Akishino Fumihito, Nomiya's elder brother and the emperor's second son. Since he was an elementary school student, he had often visited the Moto Akasaka Higashi Palace Palace where the Emperor and his family lived when he was the Crown Prince at the time, so he often saw Norimiya. In high school, Akishinomiya served as the director of the photography department and Yoshiki Kuroda served as the deputy director. After entering university, Kuroda Yoshiki then participated in the "Natural Culture Research Society" sponsored by Akishino Palace. He won the trust of Akishino Palace and helped Akishino Palace, so that the work of the research society could be carried out smoothly. Later, Akishino Palace's wife Noriko At that time, he was also a member of the Natural Culture Research Society, so Kuroda Yoshiki and Akishinonomiya couple can be said to be close friends. At that time, Ji Gong often participated in activities hosted by his brother, so they often met. After graduation, Akishino played tennis with her friends once a month at Akasaka Imperial Palace, and held a class reunion every year at Akishino's residence. Yoshiki Kuroda often plays the role of clerk and host, who adjusts the schedule through phone calls beforehand. Although it can be said that Kuroda and Norimiya have known each other since childhood, it is unknown whether they have never been attracted to each other before or have been attracted to each other for a long time but have never expressed their feelings. The two have never come together. The turning point happened a year ago in the winter, at a banquet held at Akishino Palace. Norimiya showed up. Maybe it was a connection between hearts, or maybe distance brings beauty. After the two reunited after a long absence, they seemed to find something bright in each other. Taking this reunion as an opportunity, the two began to communicate frequently through emails, phone calls and letters. Two hearts that had been friends for 30 years finally came together. In February this year, when Kuroda Yoshiki visited Akishino Palace, he met with the emperor and empress who came here to view the plum blossoms. It seems that the emperor and his wife are also very satisfied with Kuroda Yoshiki. This summer, the two have decided to get married.

The two birthdays are only one day apart. On November 12, 2005, Princess Kiyomiya Kiyoko performed an "appearance ceremony" at the palace on the 12th to formally bid farewell to her parents and family. According to the BBC, Princess Norimiya, wearing a long white dress and a small diamond crown, bowed to her parents to thank them for their upbringing. Before that, the princess wore 12 layers of formal court clothes and went to the royal ancestral temple to say goodbye to her ancestors. Princess Norimiya's "Appearance Ceremony" will be the last royal ceremony she will participate in as a princess, because once she marries her civilian fiancé Kuroda Yoshiki, she will lose her status as a member of the royal family.

Since Qingzi and Kuroda wanted the wedding to be held in a low-key manner, there was no matchmaker or cake-cutting ceremony for yesterday's wedding. The two newlyweds broke with tradition and sat with the guests. The princess did not wear the 12-layer kimono "Twelve Singles" according to tradition. Instead, she wore an ankle-length white silk dress inlaid with white pearls. The groom Kuroda wore Black and gray tuxedo.

The man sent Kuroda's cousin as an "envoy" to the palace to hold the wedding ceremony "Entrance Ceremony". A little after 10 o'clock, the princess got into the "Nissan Prince", the official car of all emperors, and drove slowly out of the palace, escorted by four motorcycle police cars at the front and back, and headed to the Imperial Hotel.

On the short 1.5-kilometer journey from the Royal Palace to the Imperial Hotel, the road was crowded with people vying to see Kiyoko's grace, shouting "Long Live" to offer their blessings. The princess, who was wearing a white western-style dress and a pearl necklace, also waved gently to the enthusiastic crowd of well-wishers. A 33-year-old woman said after watching the car carrying the princess leave: "They are people from a different world than us, and we have always respected them. Since the princess is about the same age as us, I think I should treat her better." "Blessings for the marriage."

At the same time as the princess set off to the hotel, the 40-year-old groom Kuroda Yoshiki set off from his residence in Shibuya and waited for the princess' arrival at the door of the hotel. At 11 o'clock at noon, the princess arrived at the Imperial Hotel. After the princess got out of the car, she did not walk side by side with the groom, but deliberately fell behind the groom. The wedding officiant led her into the wedding venue located in the "Orchid Room" of the Imperial Hotel. Thirty-one people including Emperor Akihito and his wife, Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife, and other royal family members and the man’s family members were invited to watch the ceremony. Except for Crown Princess Masako, most of the women attending the wedding wore kimonos, traditional Japanese clothing.

2,000 people signed blessings

In order to welcome the princess to hold her wedding in the hotel, the Imperial Hotel, which has more than 1,100 rooms, not only replaced the carpets, but also closed its business on the 14th and 15th. , specially busy for the princess's wedding. The Imperial Household Agency, which is responsible for the life of the royal family, prepared a gift book outside the hotel building for ordinary people to write blessings. On that day, about 2,000 people lined up to sign the princess's wedding album.

After the wedding, the Imperial Household Agency held a press conference at 2 p.m. to formally report the good news to the people of Japan. The princess also held a brief press conference after the wedding. "I hope to learn more new things. At the same time, I am also looking forward to a new life as a member of the Kuroda family." She said. In addition, the princess also said in the statement that the emperor told her that although she had lost her status as a princess, her relationship with her relatives would not change. The emperor also asked the princess to respect her husband and her husband's work. The princess also expressed her deep affection for her mother in the statement. Empress Michiko hugged her tightly before she got married and said "everything will be fine" several times.

The emperor and empress also attended the wedding banquet held at the Imperial Hotel starting at 4 p.m. that day. They attended the wedding banquet of a royal woman for the first time after the war. The banquet was attended by 130 mentors, colleagues and friends of the bride and groom.

The wedding banquet consists of two parts. The first half is a French meal specially prepared by the hotel, including appetizers, main dishes and desserts. People can taste delicious lobster, caviar and other foods, while the second half is It is a traditional tea snack for the Japanese royal family. The 36-year-old Norimiya Kiyoko, who has since left the royal family, and her husband Kuroda Yoshiki have been friends for many years. They both like bird watching. However, she has given up her royal status to become a civilian wife, and Kiyoko Nomiya still has many things to learn, including going to the supermarket to buy daily necessities, washing hands and making soup, and cleaning and other small and large things.

Staff from the Imperial Household Agency will go to the district office to apply for marriage registration on behalf of the princess before 12 noon on the 15th. After the registration procedures are completed, the princess becomes Kuroda Kiyoko and no longer has royal status. After the wedding, Kuroda Yoshiki will take Mrs. Kiyoko to his residence to start a new life. After the marriage, Kiyoko took her husband's surname as "Kuroda Kiyoko" and temporarily lived with Kuroda in a rented apartment not far from the palace. They will move into a formal new home after their new house is completed next year.

Although Kuroda's income is not very high, life for the two of them should not be too difficult, because the princess received a one-time dowry of US$1.29 million from the Japanese government when she got married.

On November 15, 2005, the 36-year-old princess officially married Kuroda Yoshiki, a civil servant of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. From then on, she no longer had royal status and changed her name to Kuroda Kiyoko. This is the second time the Japanese royal family has married a daughter in 45 years since the marriage of Emperor Showa's fifth daughter, Princess Kiyomiya (now known as Shimazu Takako) in 1960.

Selective Ceremonies

Due to the many etiquettes of the Japanese royal family, Princess Norimiya and Yoshiki Kuroda went through many ceremonies from their engagement to their official wedding. The following are some of the more representative ones. Sexual rituals:

The "betrothal ceremony", in which men and women exchange "betrothal gifts", means that they have officially entered into a marriage contract.

In the "Announcement Ceremony", the man officially informed Princess Ji Gong of the wedding date and arrangements.

In the "ceremony of court meeting", a few days before the wedding, the princess put on a twelve-layer kimono to pay homage to the ancestors of the royal family, and then thanked her father and the queen for their upbringing. On March 19th, the ceremony of receiving a gift—lower engagement

According to reports, the wedding customs of the Japanese royal family continue the Chinese wedding traditions, and there are more than ten kinds of ceremonies from engagement to marriage. The betrothal gift given by the man is the first step for both parties to establish a good relationship. At 10 a.m. on March 19, 2005, Yoshiki Kuroda sent an envoy to the palace to hire the bridegroom-to-be’s cousin, Naoshi Kuroda, in a tuxedo and went straight to the palace anteroom. The head of the palace bureau, Toshio Yuasa, received him.

Naochi Kuroda presented the betrothal gift with great respect - two fresh sea bream, three bottles of sake, and two pieces of silk cloth. These items are traditional Japanese festive gifts. The head of the Imperial Household Agency, Toshio Yuasa, then asked for instructions from the emperor and his wife and Princess Norimiya, and showed the betrothal gift. A few minutes later, the head of the Imperial Household Agency informed the Kuroda family's envoy that the princess had accepted the betrothal gift.

The ceremony of announcing the wedding date on October 5th - Notifying the wedding date

According to traditional etiquette, the man also has to choose an auspicious day in the zodiac to choose the wedding date, and then notify the woman. In the imperial calendar, October 5th is a "Great Peace" day for everything. At 11 a.m. that day, Naoshi Kuroda went to the palace again and informed the emperor and his family that the wedding would be on November 15. After the farewell ceremony, the groom-to-be Yoshiki Kuroda accompanied his widowed mother Sumiko to the palace to meet the emperor and his wife. The emperor and his wife happily expressed their hope that they could attend the wedding.

Worship in the morning of November 12 Three Halls——Reporting to the Gods

At 10 a.m. on November 12, Princess Ji Gong appeared in the main hall of the palace wearing ancient palace hair accessories and a bun. She worshiped the three shrines of the Japanese Imperial Palace in sequence - the Kensho Shrine dedicated to Amaterasu, the Koreido Shrine dedicated to the emperors of the past generations, and finally the shrine dedicated to various gods.

Princess Norimiya’s dress for worshiping gods is completely in accordance with the customs of the Japanese royal family. She was wearing a purple court dress with red and green gold trim, and a long dark purple pleated skirt held behind her back. This is the attire for worshiping the Japanese royal family - Twelve Singles. Princess Ji Gong, who had been trained in court etiquette since childhood, held a sandalwood fan in a very elegant posture, walked into the solemn main hall with small steps, and reported her marriage to the gods. About 10 minutes later, Princess Ji Gong completed the ceremony of the three halls and went to the front hall of the three halls to meet the waiting royal family members. More than 60 members of the royal family and staff of the Imperial Household Agency, including the princess's brother Akishino, stood up to witness the princess' worship.

On the afternoon of November 12th, the ceremony of paying homage - farewell with parents

If the atmosphere of worshiping at the temple is solemn, then the following ceremony of paying homage is full of warmth. At 2:00 pm on the 12th, Princess Norimiya wore a white dress to meet Emperor Akihito and his wife in the "Pine Room" of the royal family, and thanked her parents for their support over the years.

The emperor and his wife wore formal attire and medals to receive their daughter, Princess Norimiya. The princess lowered her head and saluted and said: "Over the years, you have raised me with endless love, and I am deeply grateful." The emperor, dressed in a tuxedo, expressed his blessing to his daughter after her marriage. He said: "You have also successfully completed your duties as a member of the royal family. The family is very grateful to you. I hope you two will create a happy family together."

The queen advised her daughter: "After marriage, We are about to start a new life. Family life is very important, and we must also become a good member of society." After greeting each other, the emperor, the couple and the princess stood to eat and toasted to each other as a farewell to the princess. At this point, the pre-wedding rituals are all over. It turns out that the princess's security is shared by the palace police and the Metropolitan Police Department guards. After the princess becomes a civilian, the tasks of the palace police end. However, the Metropolitan Police Department will provide 24-hour security for Kiyoko for at least the next six months.

After her marriage, Princess Qingzi visited the palace several times and investigated the species of birds in the palace. Every time she visits, Kiyoko drives herself there. However, Princess Qingzi would only drive the car into the garage, and when she came back she could only smile and ask the staff to help her reverse the car out of the garage.

In April 2012, due to the old age of the current head priest of Ise Jingu Shrine, the fourth daughter of Emperor Showa Akihito, Kuroda Kiyoko, the eldest daughter of the current Emperor Akihito, served as the temporary head priest.