Ayako Moriya, former Princess of Japan, has given birth to her second child.
The baby boy was born at 3:14 am on Thursday, 1 September, at Aiiku Hospital in the Minato area of Tokyo. According to the Imperial Household Agency, both mother and child are healthy.
This boy is the couple’s second son after the former Princess gave birth to her first child on 17 November 2019.
Names for either of the Moriya children have not been released by the Japanese Imperial Household Agency.
Princess Ayako became Ayako Moriya on 19 October 2018, when she married Kei Moriya, a businessman working in a shipping company. The couple was introduced by the bride’s mother, Princess Takamado, who has been friends with Moriya’s parents for many years.
In accordance with Japanese Imperial Law, Princess Ayako renounced her title and her royal life because she was not marrying someone that is also of royal descent but a commoner.
The couple still resides in Tokyo, where Mr Moriya works for navigation company Nippon Yusen, which focuses primarily on the shipment of goods, although its fleet also counts some cruise ships.
Ayako is the youngest of the three daughters of the late Prince Norihito of Takamado and Princess Hisako; as well as Ayako, her older sister Noriko has also left the Imperial Family due to her marriage to a commoner.
However, unlike many of the former Princesses, Ayako did not give up all of her patronages upon relinquishing her title. She retains the Honorary Presidency of the Canada-Japan Society and the Japan Sea Cadet federation, roles in which she is still very active.
The Japanese Imperial Household Agency has stressed multiple times that this is not common and is to be attributed to “an agreement between the Princess and the two organisations.”
