Empress Michiko of Japan

Michiko 美智子
The Empress during the New Year Greeting ceremony at the Chōwaden Reception Hall, 2 January 2013
Empress consort of Japan
Tenure	7 January 1989 – present
Enthronement	12 November 1990
Born	(1934-10-20) 20 October 1934 (age 82) , Hongō, Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan
Spouse	Emperor Akihito (m. 1959)
Issue	Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan Fumihito, Prince Akishino Sayako, Princess Nori
Full name Michiko (美智子)
House	Imperial House of Japan
Father	Hidesaburō Shōda
Mother	Fumiko Soejima
Religion	Shinto prev. Roman Catholicism

Styles of Empress Michiko
Reference style	Her Imperial Majesty
Spoken style	Your Imperial Majesty
Alternative style	Ma'am

Empress Michiko (皇后美智子, Kōgō Michiko), born Michiko Shōda (正田美智子, Shōda Michiko) on 20 October 1934, is the Empress consort of Japan as the wife of Emperor Akihito, the current Emperor of Japan reigning from 7 January 1989. She succeeded her mother-in-law, Empress Nagako (Kōjun), consort of the late Emperor Hirohito (Shōwa).

Michiko married Crown Prince Akihito and became the Crown Princess of Japan in 1959. She was the first commoner to marry into the Japanese Imperial Family. She has three children with her husband. Her elder son, Naruhito, is the current heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. As crown princess and later as empress, she has become the most visible and widely travelled imperial consort in Japanese history. Should Emperor Akihito abdicate, Michiko will receive the new title of "Jōkōgō" (上皇后).

Michiko Shōda was born in 20 October 1934 at in Tokyo, the second of four children to Hidesaburō Shōda ( Shōda Hidesaburō; 1903–1999), president and later honorary chairman of Nisshin Flour Milling Company, and his wife, Fumiko Soejima (副島富美子 Soejima Fumiko; 1909–1988). Raised in Tokyo and in a cultured family, she grew upreceiving a careful education, both traditional and "Western", learning to speak English and to play piano and being initiated into the arts such as painting, cooking and kōdō. She has an older brother Iwao, a younger brother Usamu and a younger sister Emiko. She is the niece of several academics, including Kenjirō Shōda, a mathematician who was the president of the University of Osaka from 1954 until 1960.