Biography
In July 1998, Princess Akiko visited Turkey for the first time to view the remains of Kaman-Kalehöyük, arranged by the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan, of which Prince Mikasa serves as Honorary President. Princess Akiko visited many heritage sites on her visit to Turkey. In June 2003, Princess Akiko accompanied Prince Tomohito on the tour of the heritage of Turkey that he had planned.
Princess Akiko graduated from Gakushuin University in Tokyo with a bachelor's degree in history. While she was at Gakushuin, she spent the 2001-2002 academic year studying abroad at Merton College, Oxford.
In 2004, she returned to Oxford University as a doctoral student at the Faculty of Oriental Studies. Her research topic is William Anderson Collection at the British Museum - Western Interest in Japanese Art in the Nineteenth Century. William Anderson (1842–1900) was an English surgeon who taught anatomy and surgery in Japan and became an important scholar and collector of Japanese art.
In December 2006, Princess Akiko assisted Tokyo University in opening a special exhibition on the 19th century art movement known as Japonisme.
In July 2007, she participated in a symposium at Ochanomizu University on the art collection of William Anderson. From January to May 2008, she was at the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture in Hanford, California doing research for her thesis.
Since October 2009 to March 2012, she has been working as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Kinugasa Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto.
On January 2010, Akiko passed the final examination toward a D.Phil. at the Oxford University, and became the second member of the Japanese imperial household to achieve a doctorate after Fumihito, Prince Akishino who earned a Ph.D. in Ornithology from the Graduate University for Advanced Studies in October 1996.
In July 2010, Princess Akiko also joined the "Visit to the Dedication Ceremony of the Museum of Archaeology Kaman-Kalehöyük, Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology," which Prince Tomohito had planned. In January 2011, she visited the Republic of Austria to attend the 19th INTERSKI Congress in St. Anton.
She has been working at the GINKAKU Jisho-ji, Kenshu Dojo and was inaugurated as the visiting associate professor at the Kinugasa Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University from April 2012.
On 6 June 2012, Prince Tomohito died from multiple organ failure. His funeral ceremony, called "Renso no Gi," was held at the Toshimagaoka Imperial Cemetery in Bunkyo Ward and was hosted by Princess Akiko.
Read more about this topic: Princess Akiko Of Mikasa
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