Japan’s Princess Aiko is due to attend summer school at Eton College from late July to early August, according to the Japan Times citing sources close to the matter.
The 16-year-old Princess is following in the footsteps of several family members who also travelled to the United Kingdom to study. Japanese national broadcaster NHK stated that Her Imperial Highness would study English and learn about British culture during the three-week programme at Eton, which is located on the outskirts of London. Aiko, Princess Toshi currently is a second-year student at Gakushuin Girls’ Senior High School in Tokyo. She is said to greatly enjoy studying foreign countries and cultures.
NHK added that Aiko requested to study in the UK and will live in a dormitory with other students for the three weeks at Eton. This will be her first overseas trip on her own. Eton is the same school from which the Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex graduated.
Aiko is the only child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako who are due to become Emperor and Empress of Japan after the abdication of the Crown Prince’s father, Emperor Akihito on 30 April 2019. Naruhito will become the 126th Emperor to ascend to Japan’s Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May 2019.
It is said that the Crown Prince and Crown Princess support the Princess Toshi’s choice to study at Eton, and they hope that the stay will “broaden her views.”
The Crown Prince studied at Oxford’sMerton College, while the Crown Princess studied international relations at Balliol College, Oxford – both in the 1980s. Aiko’s older first cousins, Princesses Mako and Kako have studied in the UK. Mako received her Masters in Art Museum and Gallery Studies from the University of Leicester, while Kako is currently enrolled at the University of Leeds.
