How Japan’s Princess Aiko celebrated turning 17
- Take a guess: cello performance or game of basketball?
Princess Aiko, the only child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, turned 17 on Saturday, enjoying her life in high school, including attending summer school at Eton College in Britain as her first overseas stay on her own.
The princess, currently a second-year student at Gakushuin Girls’ Senior High School in Tokyo, played the cello during a theatre performance at an arts festival, competed in basketball games and demonstrated a dance at a cultural event, according to the Imperial Household Agency.
Princess Aiko also studied for around two weeks from late July at Eton College in Windsor just outside London as part of her school’s training programme overseas. She stayed in a dorm with classmates and studied English language and British culture.
Both the crown prince and princess studied abroad including at the University of Oxford in Britain.
When the three imperial family members went to Nagano Prefecture in March, Tochigi Prefecture in May and Shizuoka and Tochigi prefectures in August for holidays, they took time to talk with people waiting for a glimpse of them at the local stations.
During her visit to Nasu in Tochigi, Princess Aiko asked gatherers including an elementary school-aged girl “What grade are you in?” and “Where did you go for the summer holidays?”
