Princess Akiko of Mikasa (三笠宮彬子女王, Mikasa-no-miya Akiko Joō; born 20 December 1981) is a member of the Imperial House of Japan, a paternal second cousin of Emperor Naruhito, and the elder daughter of Prince Tomohito of Mikasa and Princess Tomohito of Mikasa (Nobuko). She is also a niece of Japan's 92nd prime minister Tarō Asō (who is the older brother of her mother), a great-niece of author and literary critic Ken'ichi Yoshida, and a great-granddaughter of Japan's 45th prime minister Shigeru Yoshida. In September 2025, Princess Akiko became the head of the Mikasa-no-miya branch of the imperial family. She is the first woman who was a princess by birth to succeed as head of a branch of the imperial family since Princess Sumiko.
Source: “Princess Akiko of Mikasa”, English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), excerpt