* 1614 – Jahanara Begum Sahib, Imperial Princess, daughter of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal ( d. 1681 )

Following the birth of Princess Aiko, there was public debate about amending the current Imperial Household Law to allow women to succeed to the throne.

The government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, conferred the additional title upon her by an Act of Parliament, reputedly to assuage the monarch's irritation at being, as a mere Queen, notionally inferior to her own daughter ( Princess Victoria was the wife of the reigning German Emperor ); the Indian Imperial designation was also formally justified as the expression of Britain succeeding as paramount ruler of the subcontinent the former Mughal ' Padishah of Hind ', using indirect rule through hundreds of princely states formally under protection, not colonies, but accepting the British Sovereign as their suzerain.

However, shortly after the announcement that Princess Kiko was pregnant with her third child, the proposal to alter the Imperial Household Law was suspended by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

* Imperial Princess Koshi ( 高志内親王 ) ( 789 – 809 ), married to Prince Ōtomo ( Emperor Junna later )

* Imperial Princess Asahara ( 朝原内親王 ) ( 779 – 817 ), 12th Saiō in Ise Grand Shrine ( 782 – before 796 ), and married to Heizei

* Imperial Princess Inaba ( 因幡内親王 ) (?– 824 )

* Imperial Princess Anou ( 安濃内親王 ) (?– 841 )

* Imperial Princess Sugawara ( 菅原内親王 ) (?– 825 )

* Imperial Princess Kara ( 賀楽内親王 ) (?– 874 )

* Imperial Princess Shigeno ( 滋野内親王 ) (?– 857 )

* Imperial Princess Ōyake ( 大宅内親王 ) (?– 849 ), married to Heizei

* Imperial Princess Takatsu ( 高津内親王 ) (?– 841 ), married to Emperor Saga

* Imperial Princess Ate ( 安勅内親王 ) (?– 855 )

* Imperial Princess Ōi ( 大井内親王 ) (?– 865 )

* Imperial Princess Ki ( 紀内親王 ) ( 799 – 886 )

* Imperial Princess Yoshihara ( 善原内親王 ) (?– 863 )

* Imperial Princess Kannabi ( 甘南備内親王 ) ( 800 – 817 )

* Imperial Princess Ito ( 伊都内親王 ) ( ca.

* Imperial Princess Ikenoe ( 池上内親王 ) (?– 868 )

* Imperial Princess Suruga ( 駿河内親王 ) ( 801 – 820 )

* Imperial Princess Fuse ( 布勢内親王 ) (?– 812 ), 13th Saiō in Ise Shrine, 797 – 806

** Imperial Princess Kasanui ( also named Princess Satake )

** Imperial Princess Ihane-hime or Ihakumo, Ise Virgin ; had to resign her charge being convicted of intrigue with her half brother Imperial Prince Mubaragi

* Imperial Princess Ōhara ( 大原内親王 ) (?– 863 ), 14th Saiō in Ise Shrine ( 806 – 809 )

* Imperial Princess Ninshi ( 仁子内親王 ) (?– 889 ), 15th Saiō in Ise Shrine 809 – 823

* Imperial Princess Ujiko ( 氏子内親王 ) (?– 885 ), 16th Saiō in Ise Shrine ( 823 – 827 )

* Imperial Princess Hisako ( 久子内親王 ) (?– 876 ), 18th Saiō in Ise Shrine 833 – 850.

* Imperial Princess Tenshi ( 恬子内親王 ) (?– 913 ), 20th Saiō in Ise Shrine 859 – 876

* Imperial Princess Anshi ( 晏子内親王 ) (?– 900 ), 19th Saiō in Ise Shrine 850 – 858

* Imperial Princess Keishi ( 掲子内親王 ) (?– 914 ), 22nd Saiō in Ise Shrine 882 – 884

* Imperial Princess Shikiko ( 識子内親王 ) ( 874 – 906 ), 21st Saiō ( Imperial Princess serving at Ise Shrine ) 877 – 880

* Imperial Princess Shigeko ( 繁子内親王 ) (?– 916 ), 23rd Saio in Ise Shrine 884 – 887

In 1871, a Ministry of Rites was formed and Shinto shrines were divided into twelve levels with the Ise Shrine ( dedicated to Amaterasu, and thus symbolic of the legitimacy of the Imperial family ) at the peak and small sanctuaries of humble towns at the base.

( 妍子内親王 ) – Yoshida saigū ( Imperial Princess serving at Ise Shrine )

* Imperial Princess Kanshi ( 懽子内親王 ) ( Senseimon-in, 宣政門院 ) ( 1315 – 1362 ), Saiō at Ise Shrine ; later, married to Emperor Kōgon

* Imperial Princess Shoshi ( 祥子内親王 ) – Saiō at Ise Shrine 1333 – 1336 ; later, nun in Hōan-ji

The sword and the mirror are kept at the Shinto shrines in Nagoya and Ise in Central Japan, and the jewel at the Kokyo Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

Atsuta Shrine is of very ancient origin, ranking with Ise Shrine in importance, and is the repository of one of the Imperial Regalia of Japan, the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.

Ise Shrine is said to have been established during the Yayoi period, and in the 7th century the Saikū Imperial Residence was built in what is now Meiwa Town to serve as both a residence and administrative centre for the Saiō, an Imperial Princess who served as High Priestess of Ise Shrine.

saigū ( 樋口斎宮 ) ( Saigū = Imperial Princess serving at the Grand Shrine of Ise )