Imperial Family of Japan Jewellery 1: Ending 2023


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Prisma said:
After his brother's succession, Prince Akishino will be "Koshi" and styled as "crown prince" in English. So... I think Princess Kiko would receive the tiaras associated with Crown Princess Masako now. It would be wonderful to continue to see the Scroll and Sunburst tiaras instead of locked away.

Besides the Chrysanthemum and Meiji Scroll, I wonder if Masako will choose a different tiara from the vault like Michiko did with Princess Chichibu's (Princess Setsuko) Honeysuckle tiara. Princess Takamatsu (Princess Kikuko) had two tiaras: a floral and a fringe (which she usually wore as a necklace)

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I don't know. Princess Nobuko's dress has grey/silver pattern over crême; it sticks out a little less than Princess Yoko's bold blue.

Crême doesn't seem to be required of the extended family, see below. Even Princess Kiko wore a gold dress in 2011 although she and her daughters tend to stick to white. I'm curious about Princess Tsuguko of Takamado, she only seems to wear the same ivory dress while her mother and sisters have worn different gowns.

https://media.gettyimages.com/photo...the-shinnenshukuganogi-to-picture-id474925590
http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/mediaterrace/imgs/9/8/98cd4208.jpg
https://www.jiji.com/news/handmade/topic/d4_ii/mch112-23-jpp016398557.jpg
https://www.sankei.com/images/news/160101/prm1601010083-p21.jpg
https://www.sankei.com/images/news/160101/prm1601010083-p20.jpg
https://www.sankei.com/photo/images/news/150101/sty1501010005-p6.jpg
Click to expand...


The floral tiara from Princess Takamadom looks beautiful. Let's hope it was returrned to the Vaults and was not broken uop. Wahat happe's with the Parures the married-oput Pricnesses like Princess Nori etc. had worn. Are the back in the vaults or are they broken uop and new Jewels amde out of them?
 
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Stefan said:
The floral tiara from Pricness Takamadom looks beautiful. Let's hjope it was returrned to the Vaults and was not broken uop. Wahat happen with the Parures the married-oput Pricnesses like Princess Nori etc. had worn. Are the back in the vaults or are they broken uop and new Jewels made out of them?
Click to expand...

Well, that's the question, isn't it? I, for one, would be really sad if Noriko's Hokusai-inspired tiara was broken up, but for some of the tiaras, especially the ones made for and worn by Noriko and Ayako, we have no idea. The tiara worn by Sayako was a historic one, (worn by Princess Bangja in my avatar)so I doubt anything happened to it, and it may reappear, perhaps on Aiko? That's what I'm hoping, anyway.
 
Ista said:
This is true, but whatever term is used to describe Fumihito after Naruhito's enthronement, it is clear that in effect he will be acting as the heir, in Western terms, the crown prince. There's no reason to assume that he and his wife will not have the perks (including tiaras) that go along with that role.

Between the retired emperor and empress, and Akishino, there are going to be several new formal terms entered into usage.
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In Western terms, the Crown Prince is the eldest son of or King or Emperor. The title is not used for heirs who are not the son of the monarch. We'll have to wait and see how the title and status of the Akishino's will change.

Somehow, I don't see Kiko getting both tiaras she has worn as a CP. That would make Kiko's tiaras add up to three, which seems excessive when you consider that Masako only ever has worn two. And, Masako has never alternated her two tiaras. She wore the scroll tiara for a few years, retired it and moved to the pearl fringe. Wouldn't it kind of undermine Masako's position, if Kiko showed up parading up more tiaras than Masako had worn as a CP? Imo, they'd better avoid that.


I can imagine Kiko getting a second tiara, but not three. And what if Masako keeps the scroll and the fringe, and Kiko gets the honeysuckle tiara? Of the Empress' three tiaras, the honeysuckle tiara is the one which was not passed down from her predecessors. It was previously worn by the Emperor's aunt, Princess Chichibu.
 
Mbruno said:
The Imperial Household law says that the "son of the emperor who is the imperial heir" is called Kotaishi (normally translated as Crown Prince). Since Akishino will be the Emperor's brother, I assume he won't be Kotaishi, even though he will be the heir.
Click to expand...

From what I have read, "kotaishi" could be directly rendered into English as "grand imperial son/daughter" (it has been used for women in the history of the imperial family and the IHA uses it at the moment for the Crown Princess of Sweden), but it has been used for brothers of emperors and the expert panel initially suggested it for Fumihito before deciding on "koshi" ("imperial heir").

Prince Akishino's reluctance for 'crown prince' title reflected in panel report: sources - The Mainichi
Panel settles on title for Prince Akishino - The Japan News


I think the English-speaking press will accept the decision of the Imperial Household Agency to translate "koshi" as "Crown Prince" (if and when the translation is finalized). They accepted "Crown Prince" for Middle Eastern heirs who were brothers of kings.
 
 
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Ista said:
I think the notable thing about this tiara is that she wore one, even if it looks like exactly what it is, a necklace on a frame. Noriko wore a very pretty ornament in her hair, but Ayako must have liked the whole bride-as-princess thing, so good for her! But I agree, I like it much better as a necklace than as a tiara.
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What’s not to like? A delicate pretty piece, highly suitable for a former princess.
 
I bought a photo of Princess Chichibu (Setsuko) several weeks ago and it arrived on Friday!

Photo and certificate:
Photo_cert.jpg

The back has details: she was going to Buckingham Palace for dinner with the Queen after arriving in the UK for a 9-day visit on July 23, 1962.
Back.jpg

Proper scan:
SCAN_Chichibu.jpg
 
Prisma, what a wonderful photo! It's black and white, and yet the luster of those incredible pearls in the tiara dominates the photo.
 
:previous: It looks like it is a parure with tiara, necklace, earrings, bracelet and brooch. I haven't decided if the tiara just doesn't do justice to those amazing marble sized pearls or it is meant to showcase them.

I wouldn't say no to the necklace either. There is usually not a lot to say about a three strand pearl necklace, but the beautiful spacer bar in the middle and probably the catch at the back of the neck, showcase three separate strands of perfectly matched lustrous pearls and the pendant hanging from the spacer is really something different. A diamond encrusted circle with a single hanging lustrous pearl of almost the same size as those in the tiara.

I don't think those earrings are part of the original parure as their shape and style does not match the tiara and necklace and the brooch also looks like a slightly geometric oval with a central round pearl and a hanging pear shaped pearl.

As you pointed out, the lustre is amazing for a black and white photo. It also shows a parure like no other I have ever seen on the heads of endless Japanese Princesses. I wonder where it is now?
 
I am sitting at my laptop drooling over that necklace. It is a beautiful picture.
 
The tiara is either with Princess Mikasa (Yuriko) or back in the Imperial vaults.

Princess Yuriko wore her sister-in-law's secondary tiara in 1997 (Princess Chichibu passed away in 1995)
yuriko_chichibu_tiara.jpg

... but then she reverted to what I assume to be her own wedding/primary tiara in 1999
Yuriko_tiara_1999.png

Crown Princess Masako wore Princess Chichibu's necklace at the banquet for the Philippines-Japan state visit in 2015
masako_chichibu_necklace.jpg
 
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Do we know what happened to the necklace Princess Chichibu wore in her wedding photo? I know that Empress Michiko has worn the honeysuckle tiara that was worn in the wedding photo, but I don't think I've seen the necklace. Setsuko had some spectacular jewelry.
 
It is intriguing that Princess Yuriko wore her sister-in-law's pearl drop tiara, because I always thought that she must have had a very similar tiara herself.

Yuriko's daughter-in-law Princess Hisako of Takamado has worn the other pearl drop tiara several times. And both of Yuriko's daughters; Yuriko and Masako, have worn the other pearl drop tiara as well, I assume that the pics I have are from their weddings. Therefore I thought that the second pearl drop tiara must have come from Princess Yuriko. But when you compare the pics, it's quite obvious that Yuriko and Setsuko wear the same tiara, while Yasuko, Masako and Hisako wear the other tiara.
 
TIARAS! The Imperial women are wearing tiaras for the First Audience ceremony "Sokui-go-Choken-no-gi"

Empress Masako's wearing the Meiji Scroll tiara!!!
https://twitter.com/x/status/1123405743087071234
https://twitter.com/x/status/1123403679422238720
https://twitter.com/x/status/1123404941865807873

I'll be updating this post...

Empress Masako
https://twitter.com/x/status/1123409190980993025
https://twitter.com/x/status/1123410565408313344

Princesses Mako and Kako
https://twitter.com/mainichiphoto/status/1123411640056209409
 
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I love seeing Empress Masako in the Meiji Scroll, and I'm so very happy to see it again.

Have you been able to find a photo of Kiko? It looked to me as though it was the Sunburst, but I couldn't see it clearly enough to be sure.
 
What a wonderful surprise:clap:!
And we will get to see the Empress tiaras again and Crown Princess Kiko in different tiaras after many years.
 
:previous: I didn't catch that at all. I wish it were a better photo, because my first impression is that I'm not sure it suits her that well.
 
Fantastic seeing the new empress in the tiara :flowers:

And Kiko in the CP tiara (though I will always think it a shame they never changed the laws to allow the emperor's daughter to succeed him).
 
Wonderful to see the new Empress in the Meiji tiara, which is IMO the prettiest of the Japanese collection. I have to get used to seeing the new Crown Princess in the tiara that was previously worn by the Masako, but it seems they threat the jewels as functional items in Japan.
 
It really is a treat to see these incredible jewels being worn. Empress Masako looks stunning and the size of those diamonds really is something to behold.

Indeed, it's going to take some getting used to seeing the jewels worn by different people now!
 
The Meji tiara is really delicious, always think it's like a upgraded GGBI (GGBI is gorgeous enough but this one is even better because of its bigger gems). The video of the new empress and the Meji also gives me a feeling that it's the kid of GGBI and the small Stuart. And LOVE her big smile. Can't wait to see her wear the rest empress tiaras.

Masako's brooch is stunning too. Read from twitter that it's the brooch of the Sunburst parure but they're quite different to me (same design but totally different setting). If it's from the sunburst, I assume Masako keeps this parure and passes the whole CP parure (including the brooch) to Kiko? I don't think they would separate the parures and give different parts to different ladies.
 
It is interesting to see that Empress Masako start's with the Meji tiara as her first tiara as Empress the same her mother-in-law Empress Michiko did. No i want to see her in the chrysanthemum tiara. perhaps for the officiloa inthronisation celebrations in October. And there is also a stunning three-row diamond collet necklace which was worn by Empress Nagako but Empress Michiko hasn't worn that one.

Another tiara i would like to see resurface is that one: http://www.thecourtjeweller.com/2019/04/the-daily-diadem-princess-takamatsus.htm
Think that one would have been a good choice for the new Crown Princess.
 
The Meji tiara is so stunningly beautiful, I'm thrilled to see it on the new Empress now. And she looked lovely wearing it! Now I can't wait to see her wearing the chrysanthemum tiara.

I wasn't 100% sure that the other scroll tiara would really go to Princess Kiko, so now I'm very happy to finally see her wearing her second tiara.

I wonder, which of the jewels are seen as functional, and which are considered private. Certainly the Meji tiara and the chrysanthemum tiara are reserved for the Empress only. But the honeysuckle tiara was worn by Princess Chibibu before Empress Michiko started to wear it. I do think that it will go to Masako as well, but maybe it's considered private and will go to Kiko? Or someone else? And will Kiko get the sunburst tiara as well, or was it a private gift and Masako will continue to wear it? And what about Kiko's wedding parure, will she retire it, or will she continue to wear it? I dare say that the next few tiara events in Japan will be very interesting!:D
 
Tilia C. said:
The Meji tiara is so stunningly beautiful, I'm thrilled to see it on the new Empress now. And she looked lovely wearing it! Now I can't wait to see her wearing the chrysanthemum tiara.

I wasn't 100% sure that the other scroll tiara would really go to Princess Kiko, so now I'm very happy to finally see her wearing her second tiara.

I wonder, which of the jewels are seen as functional, and which are considered private. Certainly the Meji tiara and the chrysanthemum tiara are reserved for the Empress only. But the honeysuckle tiara was worn by Princess Chibibu before Empress Michiko started to wear it. I do think that it will go to Masako as well, but maybe it's considered private and will go to Kiko? Or someone else? And will Kiko get the sunburst tiara as well, or was it a private gift and Masako will continue to wear it? And what about Kiko's wedding parure, will she retire it, or will she continue to wear it? I dare say that the next few tiara events in Japan will be very interesting!:D
Click to expand...


Actually i fear it will take some time before we see the new Emopress in different tiaras. Empress Michiko wore the meji tiara in her first years before she started to wear the chrysanthemum tiara. and the same fo Masako. Th fisrst years after her marriage she only wore the scroll Parure before she startet to wear the sunburst tiara. I actually think both of them will go to Kiko as both Parures where worn by Michiko and Masako as Crown Princesses so probably they are designated for the use of the Crown Princess.
 
I've never really taken an interest in the Japanese Imperial jewels but the Meiji Scroll tiara is an eye catcher.
 
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