Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Mikasa

His Imperial Highness Prince Mikasa, who specialized in ancient oriental history as a research student at the Faculty of Literature at Tokyo University after the war, has participated in the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan established in 1954.

In 1975, His Imperial Highness established the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan in Mitaka City, where he was appointed as President in 1955, and he is Honorary President.

His Imperial Highness had conducted lectures of "Ancient oriental history" at Tokyo Woman's Christian University and Aoyama Gakuin University, and also had conducted special lectures in a capacity as visiting professor to the Faculty of Fine Arts at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music from 1985 to 2002.

During this period His Imperial Highness has made visits to about 30 countries, on official visits, as a participant to international scholars' meetings and for the purposes of researching historical landmarks. In November 1991 he was appointed as a foreign associate of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres and in June 1994 he was appointed as Honorary Fellow of The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Her Imperial Highness Princess Mikasa always accompanies His Imperial Highness on trips overseas and expends great efforts on furthering friendly relations with foreign countries. As for surveys of historical landmarks, Princess Mikasa has aided Prince Mikasa by collecting data in the form of films and slides for His Imperial Highness's lectures.

In 1948 Her Imperial Highness Princess Mikasa was appointed President of the Imperial Gift Foundation Boshi-Aiiku-kai and has attended a wide variety of events in Tokyo and regional Japan, where she offered her encouragement to a variety of people concerned with mother and child health and inquired about their situations. In September 2010 Her Imperial Highness resigned from her position as President of the Imperial Gift Foundation Boshi-Aiiku-kai.

Go to the Personal Histories of Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Mikasa