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TOKYO - The only daughter of Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko married a childhood friend Tuesday and began life as a commoner after moving out of the royal palace and giving up the title of princess.
Thousands of well-wishers cheered 36-year-old Princess Sayako as she was driven from the palace grounds to the Imperial Hotel, where she married Yoshiki Kuroda, a Tokyo city employee, in a low-key ceremony.
It was the first time an emperor's daughter had married a commoner, and the wedding was austere by royal standards. Afterward the former princess, now known as Sayako Kuroda, moved to a Tokyo apartment to begin life as a wife and taxpayer.
Unlike her brothers, Sayako had to give up her generous royal allowance under a 1947 law that automatically strips female royals of their title when they are married. To prepare for her new life, Sayako took driving lessons and practiced shopping at supermarkets.
Sayako referred to the radical change in her life in a statement released after the ceremony, in which she said her father had told her their relationship would remain unchanged and urged her to respect her husband and his work.
"The emperor told me to continue to polish the virtues I have gained in my life so far. There are many things I still do not know about my life ahead, so I'm not sure how exactly to follow these instructions," she said.
"But I feel very happy that the emperor regards my new life as a continuation, not as a complete break," Sayako added.
The emperor and empress wished the newlyweds a quiet life together and expressed their gratitude to the public for its support.
The postnuptials also were to be low-key, the Imperial Household Agency has said. After the reception, the newlyweds were to dine at the hotel and go straight to their new home.
Palace officials registered the marriage at a government office on their behalf during the wedding, officially making the princess Sayako Kuroda, the agency said.
Sayako and Kuroda were childhood acquaintances, but their romance began two years ago at a tennis party thrown by Prince Akishino, one of Sayako's brothers.
The Shinto-style ritual, performed by the chief priest of Ise Shrine in central Japan, considered the nation's most sacred shrine, was attended by 31 people, including the emperor and the empress.
The reception was attended by some 120 guests, including Sayako's parents as well as both her brothers Akishino and Crown Prince Naruhito.
Sayako was married in a simple white dress. She followed Kuroda as the couple slowly walked around the guests' tables, greeting them.
An estimated 6,000 people turned out on the streets to watch the short motorcade from the palace to the hotel, cheering and frantically taking pictures of the princess.
The wedding took place as the government is considering changing the 1947 law, which also forbids women from ascending to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
Japan's royal family has not had a male baby since the 1960s, and there is no direct male heir to the throne. Sayako's older brother Naruhito and his wife, Princess Masako, have one child, a 3-year-old daughter, Aiko.
With opinion polls showing firm, widespread support for letting women reign, Japan is now on the verge of reverting back to the pre-1947 system that allowed eight women to assume the throne over the past 1,500 years.