{{short description|Former Japanese princess (born 1988)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Eastern name order|Senge Noriko}} {{Infobox person | name = Noriko Senge | honorific_suffix = Mrs. Kunimaro Senge | image = Princess Noriko 2013.JPG | caption = Noriko in 2013 | birth_name = {{nihongo|Princess Noriko of Takamado|典子女王}} | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1988|7|22|df=y}} | birth_place = Aiiku Hospital, Minami-Azabu, Tokyo, Japan | spouse = {{marriage|Kunimaro Senge|5 October 2014}} | father = Norihito, Prince Takamado | mother = Hisako Tottori | relatives = Imperial House of Japan }}
{{nihongo|'''Noriko Senge'''|千家 典子|Senge Noriko|extra= born 22 July 1988}}, formerly {{nihongo|'''Princess Noriko of Takamado'''|典子女王|Noriko Joō}}, is a former member of the Imperial House of Japan and the second daughter of Norihito, Prince Takamado and Hisako, Princess Takamado.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2526599.stm|title=Funeral held for Japan's prince|date=29 November 2002|work=BBC Online|accessdate=28 April 2011}}</ref> She married Kunimaro Senge, a commoner, on 5 October 2014. As a result, she gave up her imperial title and left the Japanese imperial family, as required by law.
==Biography== [[File:Cephalanthera falcata 1.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Orchids, designated imperial personal emblem of Noriko]] Princess Noriko was born on 22 July 1988 at Aiiku Hospital in Minami-Azabu, Tokyo. After her birth, her father, Prince Takamado, chose her name. She went to Gakushuin Kindergarten. After that she attended the prestigious Gakushuin School for her primary, junior high, and high school education.
In April 2007, Princess Noriko enrolled in the Gakushuin University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Psychology, and expressed her intent to pursue studies in the field of clinical psychology.<ref>{{cite web |title=Personal History of Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado and her family |url=http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-about/history/history08.html |publisher=Imperial Household Agency |date=|accessdate=19 May 2012}}</ref>
In July 2008, she came of age and attended official ceremonies in Japan with the other members of the Imperial Family. She attended official functions at the palace and accompanied her mother to some other official events, as well as attending some on her own. On 20 March 2011, she graduated from Gakushuin University with the B.A. degree in Psychology.
===Marriage=== On 27 May 2014, Princess Noriko announced her engagement to {{nihongo|Kunimaro Senge|千家国麿|Senge Kunimaro|extra= born {{Birth date|1973|9|2|df=y}}}}, a kannushi for the Izumo-taisha shrine.<ref>{{cite news|title=Wedding Bells to Ring for Japanese Princess|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/05/27/wedding-bells-to-ring-for-japanese-princess/|newspaper=Wall Street Journal Japan}}</ref> The two married on 5 October at the shrine.<ref name=wedding1>{{cite web|title=Princess Noriko marries son of Izumo Taisha priest, relinquishes royal status|date=5 October 2014 |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/10/05/national/princess-noriko-marries-son-of-izumo-taisha-priest-relinquishes-royal-status/#.VDFoc1e5_y0|accessdate=5 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Marriage of Her Imperial Highness Princess Noriko of Takamado - Wedding Ceremony at the Izumo Oyasahiro Shrine in Shimane Prefecture|url=http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-about/activity/gokekkon-h26/e-kekkonsiki-ph.html|work=The Imperial Household Agency|accessdate=16 May 2015}}</ref>
Senge Kunimaro is the eldest son of Senge Takamasa, the head priest of the Izumo Grand Shrine. The Senge family have been hereditary administrators of the shrine for generations.<ref name=wedding1/> Though legally commoners today, the heads of the family held the title of baron in the Imperial Japanese peerage (''kazoku'') before its abolition in 1947. Senge Kunimaro is a second cousin (twice removed) of the present Emperor and a distant cousin twice over of Princess Noriko. He and Noriko are third cousins once removed by their shared descent from Prince Kujō Michitaka, who was the father of the Empress Teimei, Princess Noriko's great-grandmother and Senge Kunimaro's great-great-aunt.<ref name=Senge_descent>{{cite web|url=https://reichsarchiv.jp/%e5%ae%b6%e7%b3%bb%e3%83%aa%e3%82%b9%e3%83%88/%e5%8d%83%e5%ae%b6%e5%ae%b6%ef%bc%88%e5%87%ba%e9%9b%b2%e5%9b%bd%e9%80%a0%e5%ae%b6%ef%bc%89#kunimaro973|title=千家家（出雲国造家） (Senge genealogy)|website=Reichsarchiv|access-date=17 May 2017|language=ja}}</ref> The couple are also fifth cousins through their shared descent from Marquis Nakayama Tadayasu, the maternal grandfather of the Meiji Emperor.<ref name=Nakayama_descent>{{cite web|url=https://reichsarchiv.jp/%e5%ae%b6%e7%b3%bb%e3%83%aa%e3%82%b9%e3%83%88/%e4%b8%ad%e5%b1%b1%e5%ae%b6%ef%bc%88%e7%be%bd%e6%9e%97%e5%ae%b6%ef%bc%89#suketikaq|script-title=ja:中山家（羽林家）|website=Reichsarchiv|access-date=17 May 2017|language=ja}}</ref> By birth, Kunimaro is also related to other members of the imperial family. He is a sixth cousin once removed of his grandmother-in-law, Princess Mikasa, a third cousin twice removed of Princess Hitachi and a cousin of the late Princesses Takamatsu and Chichibu (a second cousin thrice removed and a fourth cousin thrice removed, respectively).<ref name=Senge_descent/><ref name=Nakayama_descent/>
After the wedding, Princess Noriko lost her imperial status. This change in her status is mandated by the Imperial Household Act of 1947 that requires females of the Imperial Family to relinquish their title from birth, official membership in the Imperial Family, and allowance from the state upon marriage to a commoner. At 26 years of age, she became the seventh female member born into the Japanese Imperial Family to marry a commoner since the passage of the Imperial Household Law in 1947, and the first member of the family to lose her royal status since the marriage of Sayako, Princess Nori, Emperor Akihito's daughter, in 2005. The government decided to bestow a one-time ¥106.75 million allowance on the couple.<ref name=wedding1/>
==Titles and styles== {{Infobox royal styles | royal name=Princess Noriko of Takamado<br><small>(before her marriage)</small>| | image=centre|Takamado no miya mon|120px | dipstyle=Her Imperial Highness | offstyle=Your Imperial Highness }} *22 July 1988 – 5 October 2014: ''Her Imperial Highness'' Princess Noriko of Takamado *5 October 2014 – present: ''Mrs.'' Kunimaro Senge
==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 Noriko of Takamado''' |2= 2. Norihito, Prince Takamado |3= 3. Hisako Tottori |4= 4. Takahito, Prince Mikasa |5= 5. The Hon. Yuriko Takagi |6= 6. Shigejiro Tottori |7= 7. Fumiko Tomoda |8= 8. Yoshihito, Emperor Taishō |9= 9. Lady Sadako Kujō |10= 10. Masanari Takagi |11= 11. Kuniko Irie |12= 12. Tamesaburo Tottori |13= 13. Hisashi Tottori |14= 14. Jiro Tomoda |15= 15. Moriko Tomoda |16= 16. Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji |17= 17. Lady Naruko Yanagihara |18= 18. Prince Kujō Michitaka |19= 19. Noma Ikuko |20= 20. Masayoshi Takagi |21= 21. Saneko Matsudaira |22= 22. Tamemori Irie |23= 23. Nobuko Yanagihara }}
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Senge Noriko}} *[http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-about/activity/activity08.html Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado and her family] at the Imperial Household Agency website
{{Japanese princesses}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senge, Noriko}} Category:Japanese princesses Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:Nobility from Tokyo Category:People from Minato, Tokyo Category:Gakushuin University alumni Category:Order of the Precious Crown members Category:Izumo clan {{Izumo-taishakyo}}