The Imperial Household Agency will formally announce the engagement of Princess Nori and Yoshiki Kuroda, a Tokyo Metropolitan Government official, on Thursday.

The agency had planned to make the announcement in early November. But it postponed the announcement twice: initially out of consideration for the victims of the major earthquakes that struck Niigata Prefecture in late October, then due to the death of Princess Takamatsu earlier this month.

Princess Nori, 35, is the only daughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.

Agency officials released the date for the announcement Monday, a day after Princess Takamatsu's funeral.

Agency officials said that Princess Nori and her parents were deeply concerned about the massive tsunamis that hit South Asia on Sunday following an earthquake off Indonesia, but have agreed to having the engagement announced before the end of the year, given that it has already been put off twice.

Following the formal announcement Thursday morning, Kuroda, 39, will visit the Imperial Palace to pay his respects to the Emperor and Empress.

The couple will hold a news conference in the afternoon and have dinner with the Emperor, Empress and Kuroda's mother, Sumiko, 69. His father died in 1986.