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The funeral was held Tuesday for Prince Katsura, the 66-year-old cousin of Emperor Akihito, who died of heart failure on June 8.
The funeral rite, known as "Renso no Gi," was held at the Toshimagaoka Imperial cemetery. As per imperial custom, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko did not attend. They were represented by the grand chamberlain. Crown Prince Naruhito, Crown Princess Masako and other Imperial family members attended, along with government leaders.
The chief mourners were Prince Katsura's parents, Prince Mikasa and his wife, Princess Yuriko, both of whom are in their 90s and who are confined to wheelchairs. The death of Prince Katsura means that all three sons of Prince Mikasa and Princess Yuriko have died. They have two daughters who left the imperial family after getting married.
Prince Katsura was the sixth in line to the Japanese imperial throne. He had been in ill health for some time. In 1988, he had surgery for acute subdural hematoma, and in 2008, was hospitalized for septicemia.
The prince, who was not married, had been confined to a wheelchair for the past few years.
© Japan Today
5 Comments
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serendipitous
Sad for any parents to outlive their children.
trinklets2
So sad still with nobody to carry the family name. May he find peace and happiness in the afterlife!
MarkX
My wife just informed me that the cost of his funeral was over two million dollars! What a waste of taxpayers money! And he was only a first cousin of the emperor!
toshiko
@MarkX: No, no tax money. Income from Imperial House assets maintained by Kunai-cho. Read constitution related to Emperor and Imperial House. Govt or anyone can not give any money or anything, including a letter to Imperial House. Kunaicho hasn't (never) released details of funeral expenses. It is private. Kunaicho does not count its incomes and expenses with dollars as it uses yen. They had more assets and after war, a majority of assets were seized by Govt.