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[[Image:Masako4.jpg|thumb|250px|Crown Princess Masako with her husband, Crown Prince Naruhito]]
'''Masako''' ([[jp]]: 雅子皇太子妃殿下 ''masako kōtaishihi denka'') (born [[December 9]] [[1963]], [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]]) is '''Her Imperial Highness The [[Crown Princess]] of Japan'''.
Born '''Masako Owada''' (小和田 雅子 ''owada masako''), the eldest daughter of [[Hisashi Owada]], a senior [[diplomat]], she traveled the world with her parents from childhood. She went to kindergarten in [[Moscow]], attended Belmont High School in [[Belmont, Massachusetts]], near [[Boston]], and graduated from [[Harvard University]] magna cum laude in [[1985]] with a degree in economics. Afterwards she went to study at [[Oxford University]] for 2 years from [[1988]] to [[1990]], to work on a postgraduate degree in International Relations. Masako became fluent in 4 languages - Russian, English, French and German - and joined the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Japanese foreign ministry]], where she met many world leaders such as [[United States|U.S.]] [[President of the United States|president]] [[Bill Clinton]] and [[Russia|Russian]] [[President of Russia|president]] [[Boris Yeltsin]]. Masako was noted to have taken part in trade negotiations with the United States over [[superconductors]], as a translator.
By all accounts, the Crown Princess is very intelligent and talented, and she might have gone far in a diplomatic career.
Though she initially refused the marriage proposal of His Imperial Highness Crown Prince [[Naruhito]], the Heir Apparent to the throne of Japan, Masako was eventually convinced into marriage. She married Naruhito on [[June 9]] [[1993]], much to the public's delight and became Her Imperial Highness The Crown Princess fo Japan. However, many younger Japanese women felt conflict when Masako gave up her career in order to marry the Crown Prince, thereby accepting the many restrictions imposed by life in the Imperial Court, thanks to the powerful and highly conservative [[Imperial Household Agency]]. Elder Japanese, however, saw it as the highest diplomatic post available in Japan, and the best possible lifelong promotion for Crown Princess Masako.
After a highly publicized [[miscarriage]] (which was blamed by many on media pressure), she gave birth to a girl, [[Princess Aiko|Aiko]], on [[December 1]] [[2001]]. Princess Aiko's birth stimulated public debate on changing Japan's [[Imperial Household Law]] to add royal daughters, a commentary that has not ceased. The lack of a male heir has created a great deal of anxiety and uncertainty in Japan.
On [[December 9]], [[2004]], the Princess announced that she hoped to return to her official duties soon, but this has not yet occurred. She has been absent from many of these duties for more than 13 months, due to what the family has called "stress-induced illness." Her husband has made pointed and controversial comments about incourtesies addressed to and other pressures placed on his wife since their marriage by the Imperial Household Agency; observers have indicated that Masako, like her mother-in-law in the 1960s, may have suffered a [[nervous breakdown]]. It was announced that the Princess suffered from a herpes varicella zoster virus or [[chicken pox]].
It has been widely speculated that the insistent pressure to produce a male heir has put heavy stress on the Crown Princess. In [[January]], [[2005]], the [[Japanese government]] announced that they would consider allowing the Crown Prince and Princess to adopt a male child, in order to avoid the possible heir crisis. The child would be adopted from former royal members who lost their imperial titles after [[World War II]]. A government-appointed panel of experts is expected to submit a report later in 2005 regarding the feasibility of this plan. Many members of the Japanese public, however, have indicated that they would happily accept the possibility of Princess Aiko ascending the throne as Empress and view allowing the continuance of male primogeniture as a retrograde step.
==External links==
*[http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e03/ed03-01.html Kunaicho | Their Imperial Highnesses Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako]
* [http://www.who2.com/princessmasako.html http://www.who2.com/princessmasako.html Who2 profile]
* [http://ikjeld.com/files/biographies/princess_masako.html http://ikjeld.com/files/biographies/princess_masako.html profile at kjeld.com]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3939179.stm Princess trapped by palace guard]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world/asia-pacific/584125.stm News archive]
[[Category:Japanese monarchy|Masako, Princess]]
[[Category:Yamato line|Masako, Princess]]
[[Category:1963 births|Masako, Princess]]
[[ko:마사코 황태자비]]
[[ja:雅子 (皇室)]]
[[nb:Masako av Japan]]
[[zh:皇太子妃雅子]]
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