TOKYO: Princess Yuriko, the oldest living member of the Japanese imperial family, turned 101 on Tuesday.

According to the Imperial Household Agency, the princess, great-aunt of Emperor Naruhito, has become the oldest Imperial Family member born in or after the Meiji period (1868-1912), exceeding her late husband, Prince Mikasa, who died in 2016 at the age of 100.

Princess Yuriko is staying at St. Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo from March 3 after being diagnosed with a mild case of cerebral infarction and aspiration pneumonia. She is able to communicate and is rehabilitating such as seating in a wheelchair, but she cannot eat or drink, the agency said.

Buichiro Kuroda, vice head of the agency, said that the organization is paying close attention to the princess given her very old age, although she is in stable condition.

Princess Yuriko, born in 1923 as the second daughter of Viscount Masanari Takagi, married Prince Mikasa in 1941 and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. The three sons have already died.

JIJI Press