Royal Profile: Princess Akiko of Mikasa

Princess Akiko of Mikasa was born 20 December 1981 as the elder of two daughters of Prince Tomohito of Mikasa and Princess  Tomohito (Nobuko) of Mikasa. She has one younger sister:

1. Princess Yōko of Mikasa (1983)

Princess Akiko was educated in Japan. She graduated from Gakushuin University with a degree in history. During her university years, she also studied abroad at Merton College at Oxford University, where she focused on Japanese Art History {Source}. In 2004, she returned to Oxford as a doctoral student at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, earning a dPhill in January 2010 {Source}.

Princess Akiko has undertaken her fair share of royal apperances since becoming of age in 2001. She has undertaken several trips to Turkey. In 1998, she visited Turkey  to view the remains of Kaman Kalehoyuk, arranged by the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan, on behalf of her father's honorary presidency of the  organization  and visited many heritage sites at this time{Source}.  In July 2010, she joined the Visit to the Dedication Ceremony of the Museum of Archaeology Kaman Kalehoyuk, Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archeology on her father's behalf {Source}. In January 2011, she joined a Japanese delegation in Austria to attend the 19th INTERSKI Congress {Source}. In September 2018, the Emperor's distant cousin visited Turkey once again,  to attend the ceremony of appointment as President of the Prince Mikasa Foundation {Source}.

She also has worked extensively in her field. During the time period of 2009-Spring 2012, Princess Akiko worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the Kinugasa Research Organization of Ritsumeikan University{Source}. . From April 2012 to March 2014, she was a   Guest Associate Professor at the Kinugasa Research Organization of Ritsumeikan University{Source}. From there, she worked as a research fellow at the  Institute of Japanese Culture, Kyoto Sangyo University {Source}. Since April 2018, she has been a working professor of  Institute of Japanese Culture, Kyoto Sangyo University{Source}.