{"id":187419,"date":"2018-10-29T04:23:11","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T08:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=187419"},"modified":"2018-10-29T04:23:11","modified_gmt":"2018-10-29T08:23:11","slug":"japanese-princess-ayako-marries-commoner-shrine-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/10\/29\/japanese-princess-ayako-marries-commoner-shrine-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Princess Ayako marries commoner at shrine ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cI want us to work together, hand in hand, to create a family filled with smiles,\u201d he said. (File Photo By Rekishi-JAPAN\/Wikimedia commons, Public Domain<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TOKYO \u2014 Japan’s Princess Ayako married a commoner in a ritual-filled ceremony Monday at Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine.<\/p>\n

Ayako and groom Kei Moriya were shown on national news walking slowly before guests at the shrine. The wedding took place in one of the pagoda-like buildings in the shrine complex and included an exchange of rings and a sharing of a cup of sake, according to Japanese media.<\/p>\n

Both rituals are relatively routine for Shinto-style weddings, including those of regular Japanese.<\/p>\n

Ayako, 28, is the daughter of the emperor’s cousin, and Moriya, 32, works for major shipping company Nippon Yusen.<\/p>\n

She wore a Heian-era style hairdo, which is swept back into a ponytail, and a traditional robe splashed with red and green patterns, while Moriya wore coattails. She later changed into a red Japanese robe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am filled with happiness,\u201d she told reporters after the ceremony.<\/p>\n

Women who marry into the imperial family become members of the family, but those who marry commoners, like Ayako, must leave.<\/p>\n

Moriya said he hoped to help Ayako adjust to a commoner’s life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want us to work together, hand in hand, to create a family filled with smiles,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ayako bid farewell to Emperor Akihito last week. She said Monday she hoped to continue to help the emperor and empress as a former member of the imperial family.<\/p>\n

The eldest granddaughter of the emperor is set to marry a commoner in 2020.<\/p>\n

Akihito has said he will abdicate next year. His eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1.<\/p>\n

Ayako and Moriya said when they announced their wedding plans that they met because their mothers were friends and hit it off immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn’t feel as though we had met for the first time,\u201d Ayako told reporters at their engagement.<\/p>\n

Moriya said he had been attracted to her gentle spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ayako’s father, Prince Takamado, who was active in supporting Japanese soccer, died in 2002.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TOKYO \u2014 Japan’s Princess Ayako married a commoner in a ritual-filled ceremony Monday at Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine. Ayako and groom …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":187420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-w","mauthors-yuri-kageyama","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}