Japanese Prince Hisahito Turns 20, Leading Fulfilling Life

Tokyo, Sept. 6 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prince Hisahito, the son of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, turned 20 on Sunday, leading a fulfilling life mainly through his studies at university.

The prince, second in line to the throne, is a second-year student of the College of Biological Sciences in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, and is also engaging in official duties as a young member of the Imperial Family.

After completing his coming-of-age ceremony in September last year, Prince Hisahito made his debut at several events at the Imperial Palace, such as the New Year's greetings in early January and a banquet for Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his wife held during their state visit to Japan in May.

For the Imperial New Year's poetry-reading ceremony, known as "utakai hajime," he submitted a poem for the first time, depicting a memory related to dragonflies, a subject of his research.

In the past year, the prince visited six prefectures--Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, Mie in central Japan, and Kyoto, Osaka, Nara and Hiroshima in western Japan.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]