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Princess Takamatsu dies at age 92

TOKYO, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Princess Takamatsu, an aunt of Japan's Emperor Akihito, died Saturday in a Tokyo hospital at the age of 92.

The princess, who died from blood poisoning at St. Luke's International Hospital, was born Dec. 26, 1911, and is the granddaughter of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, and married Prince Takamatsu, a younger brother of the late Emperor Showa, Mainichi Shimbun said.

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As honorary president of the Princess Takamatsu Cancer Research Fund, she was active in campaigns to eliminate cancer. She also served as president of an organization extending relief to Hansen's disease patients.

Her death prompted officials to delay officially announcing Princess Sayako, the daughter of the emperor, will marry Tokyo Metropolitan Government official Kuroda.

Princess Takamatsu's body was taken to her residence in the Takanawa district of Minato-ku in Tokyo. Her funeral will be held Dec. 26 at the Toshimagaoka cemetery in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward, with Prince Tomohito of Mikasa acting as "chief mourner."

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