# Masako Sen

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{{short description|Former Japanese princess (born 1951)}}
{{Eastern name order|Sen Masako}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Masako Sen
| honorific_suffix   = Mrs. Soshitsu Sen
| birth_name         = {{nihongo|Princess Masako of Mikasa|容子内親王}}
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1951|10|23|df=y}}
| birth_place        = Kamiōsaki, Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan
| spouse             = {{marriage|{{ill|v=ib|Sōshitsu Sen XVI|ja|千宗室 (16代)}}|14 October 1983}}
| children           = 3
| relatives          = [Imperial House of Japan](/source/Imperial_House_of_Japan)
| father             = [Takahito, Prince Mikasa](/source/Takahito%2C_Prince_Mikasa)
| mother             = [Yuriko Takagi](/source/Yuriko%2C_Princess_Mikasa)
}}

{{Nihongo|'''Masako Sen'''|千 容子|Sen Masako|born 23 October 1951}}, formerly {{nihongo|'''Princess Masako of Mikasa'''|容子内親王|Masako Naishinnō}}, is a former member of the [Imperial House of Japan](/source/Imperial_House_of_Japan). She is the fourth child and second daughter of [Takahito, Prince Mikasa](/source/Takahito%2C_Prince_Mikasa) and [Yuriko, Princess Mikasa](/source/Yuriko%2C_Princess_Mikasa).<ref name=MS>[http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-about/history/history05.html Kunaicho | Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Mikasa and their family]</ref> She is the wife of the 16th-generation [Soshitsu Sen](/source/Sen_S%C5%8Dshitsu).

==Education==
[[File:Acer palmatum sango kaku.jpg|thumb|[Maple](/source/Maple) (''Acer'') leaves, designated imperial personal emblem of Masako]]
For her early education as a child, Princess Masako attended Gakushuin Elementary School and then Gakushuin Women's Secondary School. She later enrolled in the Department of Japanese Language and Literature, Faculty of Letters, [Gakushuin University](/source/Gakushuin_University). After completing three years, she was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland and moved to Paris for studying in the [University of Sorbonne](/source/University_of_Sorbonne).

==Marriage and family==
Princess Masako married Masayuki Sen (b. 1956), the elder son of [Sōshitsu Sen XV](/source/Sen_S%C5%8Dshitsu_XV), on 14 October 1983.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.co.jp/detail/%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E5%86%99%E7%9C%9F/princess-masako-of-mikasa-and-masayuki-sen-pose-for-photographs-%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E5%86%99%E7%9C%9F/1064134642|title = Princess Masako of Mikasa and Masayuki Sen pose for photographs with| date=6 November 2018 }}</ref> Upon her marriage, she gave up her imperial title and left the [Japanese Imperial Family](/source/Imperial_House_of_Japan) as required by Imperial Law,<ref>The Imperial House Law, Article 12, https://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-kunaicho/hourei-01.html,</ref> and took the surname of her husband. He succeeded his father and thus became {{ill|v=ib|Sōshitsu Sen XVI|ja|千宗室 (16代)}}, the sixteenth hereditary grand master (''[Iemoto](/source/Iemoto)'') of the [Urasenke](/source/Urasenke) [Japanese Tea Ceremony](/source/Japanese_Tea_Ceremony) School, in December 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.urasenke.or.jp/texte/greetings/greetings.html#profile|title = The Urasenke Konnichian Web Site| date=14 September 2023 }}</ref>

The couple have two sons and one daughter:
* Akifumi Kikuchi (10 November 1984 – 20 August 2024),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 September 2024 |title=#Breaking Akifumi Kikuchi, great-grandson of Emperor Taisho(Yoshihito), died on August 20 at the age of 39. He was the eldest son of the Urasenke, a traditional Japanese tea ceremony family, and a poet. The cause of his death is unknown. |url=https://x.com/tomoshibi6o6o/status/1830292378017755449 |access-date=2 October 2024 |website=X}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=May 2026}} had his surname officially changed from "Sen" to "Kikuchi" in 2014<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://chori21.exblog.jp/23619638 |title=【ご報告】苗字がかわりました : Chori official blog-地図をつくる- |access-date=2015-02-05 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150205153341/http://chori21.exblog.jp/23619638 |archive-date=2015-02-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Makiko Sakata (born 11 July 1987), married in 2017 to Munehiro Sakata<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.urasenke.or.jp/textm/headq/soke/news/news206/news206.html|title=千 万紀子様、結納の儀|access-date=2018-09-06|archive-date=2021-12-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218202737/http://www.urasenke.or.jp/textm/headq/soke/news/news206/news206.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Takafumi Sen (born 6 July 1990)

==Official activities==
Masako Sen has been active in the [Soroptimist International](/source/Soroptimist_International) (SI) organization in Japan. She was President of the SI Kyoto Club in 2006, and again, in 2016. In 2012, she was elected as the 14th Governor of Japan's Soroptimist International of the Americas (SIA) Chuo Region.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://si-kyoto.jp/history/|title=クラブの歩み &#124; 国際ソロプチミスト京都 Soroptimist International of Kyoto}}</ref> In March, 2018, she was elected as Chair of the Soroptimist Japan Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.soro-jpf.net/about/history.html|title = 財団の歴史 - ソロプチミスト日本財団について &#124; 公益財団法人 ソロプチミスト日本財団}}</ref>

==Titles and styles==
{{infobox royal styles|
royal name=Princess Masako of Mikasa<br><small>(before her marriage)</small>|
image=centre|Mikasa-no-miya mon|120px|
dipstyle=[Her Imperial Highness](/source/Imperial_Highness)|
offstyle=Your Imperial Highness|
}}
* 23 October 1951 – 14 October 1983: ''Her Imperial Highness'' Princess Masako
* 14 October 1983 – present: ''Mrs.'' Soshitsu Sen  

==Honours==
{{see also|List of honours of the Japanese Imperial Family by country}}

===National honours===
* Grand Cordon of the [Order of the Precious Crown](/source/Order_of_the_Precious_Crown)

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Princess Masako of Mikasa'''
|2= 2. [Takahito, Prince Mikasa](/source/Takahito%2C_Prince_Mikasa)
|3= 3. [The Hon. Yuriko Takagi](/source/Yuriko%2C_Princess_Mikasa) 
|4= 4. [Yoshihito, Emperor Taishō](/source/Emperor_Taish%C5%8D)
|5= 5. [Lady Sadako Kujō](/source/Empress_Teimei)
|6= 6. Masanari Takagi
|7= 7. Kuniko Irie
|8= 8. [Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji](/source/Emperor_Meiji)
|9= 9. [Lady Naruko Yanagihara](/source/Yanagihara_Naruko)
|10= 10. [Prince Michitaka Kujō](/source/Kuj%C5%8D_Michitaka)
|11= 11. Ikuko Noma
|12= 12. Masayoshi Takagi
|13= 13. Saneko Matsudaira
|14= 14. Tamemori Irie
|15= 15. Nobuko Yanagihara
|16= 16. [Osahito, Emperor Kōmei](/source/Emperor_K%C5%8Dmei)
|17= 17. [Yoshiko Nakayama](/source/Nakayama_Yoshiko)
|18= 18. Lord Mitsunaru Yanagiwara
|19= 19. Lady Utano Hasegawa
|20= 20. [Hisatada Kujō](/source/Kuj%C5%8D_Hisatada) 
|21= 21. Lady Tsuneko Karahashi
|22= 22. Yorioki Noma
|24= 24. Mamoru Takagi
|26= 26. Terutoshi Matsudaira
|27= 27. Kazu Hotta
|28= 28. Tametada Reizei
|29= 29. Lady Ryōko Yanagihara
|30= 30. [Count Sakimitsu Yanagihara](/source/Yanagiwara_Sakimitsu)
|31= 31. Lady Hatsune Date
}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Japanese princesses}}

<!-- Honours -->

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sen, Masako}}
Category:1951 births
Category:Living people
Category:Japanese princesses
Category:People from Shinagawa
<!-- Honours : Japan -->
Category:Grand Cordons (Imperial Family) of the Order of the Precious Crown
Category:Gakushuin University alumni
Category:Members of Soroptimist International

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Masako Sen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masako_Sen) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masako_Sen?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.