Hanako, Princess Hitachi
(born ; 19 July 1940), is a member of the Japanese Imperial Family as the wife of Masahito, Prince Hitachi, who is the younger son of Emperor Shōwa and the only brother of Emperor Emeritus Akihito. Early life and education She was born at Tsugaru's family home in Tokyo, she is the fourth daughter of Count Yoshitaka Tsugaru (1907–1994), the last representative of the Tsugaru clan and adopted son of the daimyō of the Tsugaru Domain (present-day Hirosaki, Aomori). Yoshitaka Tsugaru was originally from the Owari branch of the Tokugawa clan. He was also a member of the aristocracy created by the Meiji Restoration (kazoku). Her mother, Hisako Mōri (1911–2004), was a descendant of the Mōri clan and also of the former daimyō of Chōshū Domain in the former province of Nagato (present-day Yamaguchi). Hanako Tsugaru attended the prestigious Gakushūin School for her primary, junior high, and high school education, a school for Peers founded to educate the children of the imperial family and the imperial aristocracy (kuge). She graduated from the Gakushūin Women's Junior College in 1961. Marriage Hanako met her future husband, Prince Masahito, during her studies at Gakushuin. The Imperial Household Council announced the engagement of Prince