Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, the Imperial Household Agency head and others held an Imperial House Economy Council meeting on September 30.

They recognized that Princess Nobuko, the widow of late Prince Tomohito of Mikasa and her first daughter, Princess Akiko, will each establish independent livelihoods.

Princess Nobuko will leave the Mikasa family and establish a new branch of the imperial family. Princess Akiko will become the head of the Mikasa family.

Discussions between Nobuko and her two daughters Akiko and Yoko over the succession as head of what was then Tomohito's house was not realized after the prince passed away in 2012, and the three princesses were integrated into the Mikasa family led at the time by Prince Takahito, Tomohito's father.

Prince Takahito passed away in 2016. His widow Princess Yuriko, who succeeded him as head of the Mikasa family, passed away in November 2024, leaving the remaining members to consider who will succeed her.

Imperial family members receive an Imperial Household allowance under the Imperial House Economy Law, intended to maintain their dignity as members of the Imperial Family.

Under the new setup, Princess Nobuko's annual Imperial Household allowance will increase from the current 15.25 million yen to 30.5 million yen, and Princess Akiko's from 6.405 million yen to 10.675 million yen.

The development will increase the number of imperial sub-families from the previous four to five: the Akishino, the Hitachi, the Mikasa, the Takamado and Princess Nobuko's sub-family.

It will be the first time since the old Imperial Household Code was entered into force during the Meiji era that a commoner who married into the Imperial Family establishes a new imperial family branch.