Emperor Akihito’s uncle Prince Mikasa, who died of heart failure Thursday at the age of 100, spent the last years of his life peacefully at his residence in Tokyo, taking strolls and enjoying his daily studies and exercise. The death of Prince Mikasa — the 100-year-old uncle of Emperor Akihito who was one of only five men in line for the Chrysanthemum throne — has once again put the spotlight on the issue of Imperial succession and the dwindling size of the Imperial family. When his granddaughter Princess Noriko, the second daughter of Prince Takamado, married in October 2014, Prince Mikasa attended her wedding party in Tokyo..

During his hospitalization in an intensive-care unit at St. Luke’s International Hospital, Princess Yuriko frequently visited him along with other Imperial family members. Mikasa was the youngest brother of the current emperor’s father, Hirohito, in whose name Japan fought World War Two

The prince, a scholar of ancient Oriental history, taught at colleges, and served as honorary president of the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan and the Japan-Turkey Society.
Japan's Prince Mikasa, the oldest member of the Imperial Family, dies at the age of 100.