Princess Yuriko, a great-aunt of Emperor Naruhito, passed away on November 15 at Saint Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo. She was 101 years old.

Imperial Household Agency officials said the cause of death was old age. She had been the oldest living member of the imperial family.

In January 2023, she took part in the imperial family members' New Year greeting event with visitors from the general public at the Imperial Palace.

She was hospitalized in March this year for cerebral infarction and aspiration pneumonia.

After being moved from the intensive care unit to the general ward, she was also diagnosed with heart failure and underwent treatment and rehabilitation.

Until last week, she regularly spent some time in a wheelchair and got massages.

Yuriko was the widow of Prince Takahito of Mikasa who passed away at age 100 in 2016. Takahito was a younger brother of Emperor Hirohito, known posthumously as Emperor Showa.

The officials announced on November 8 that functions of her whole body, including the heart and kidneys, were found to be declining in tests conducted the previous day.

The officials said the princess was resting in the hospital's general ward and responding to calls from visitors by nodding and opening her eyes.

But on November 11, they said the decline in her bodily functions was progressing.

They said her blood pressure gradually dropped from early in the morning on November 15 and she passed away at 6:32 a.m.

The imperial family now has 16 members, five male and 11 female. The oldest is Emperor Emeritus Akihito at 90 years old.