Princess of Japan, Ayako Moriya got married yesterday, October 29th. However the young princess is princess no more; she married a commoner, so now she has to quit her royal name. During her fairy tale wedding however, she was surrounded by all her friends and family. They took part in all the traditional rituals of a Japanese wedding – the wedding took place in one of the pagoda-like buildings in the shrine complex and included an exchange of rings and a sharing of a cup of sake. After the wedding it was time for the young couple to leave the shrine and face a crowd of reporters and well-wishers or ‘fans.’ As  Ayako Moriya and her new husband Kei Moriya left hand in hand well over 10,000 people yelled  “Banzai” which is the wish for an auspicious long life. Of course even though she is no longer princess, reporters were still surrounded around the shrine taking pictures and trying to get quotes from the young couple.

When Ayako (ex-princess) was asked about how she felt regarding to leaving the royal family  she simply said, “I will leave the imperial family today, but I will remain unchanged in my support for his majesty and her majesty. I am awed by how blessed I am.” Of course they also wanted to see what the new husband wanted to say, and he said his ‘new’ wife looked beautiful. Also commenting on their future life, the young husband said, “I would like to support her firmly and, hand in hand, build a happy family with lots of laughter.”

Ayako is the youngest of the princesses and under the Japanese law women of royal status lose there title if they do not marry someone royal or with aristocratic family ties. Even thought she is no longer princess, the Japanese Government will pay the couple $950,000 for their living expenses. It doesn’t sound like this couple will have any financial problems. Now all we can do is say Banzai and wish them the best.