Princess Yuriko, widow of the Japanese wartime emperor Hirohito's brother Mikasa, has died. At 101 years old, she was the oldest in the now not so large imperial family.
The order of succession states that only men can be considered for the imperial title, but now there are only four men left in the family and the country is struggling to keep the imperial dynasty alive.
Yuriko was born in 1923 and married when she was 18 years old, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, to Prince Mikasa. The couple had five children, two daughters and three sons. Her husband and the three sons are deceased.
Until March this year, she was in relatively good health. But a stroke and pneumonia worsened her health.
