Raised in Tokyo and in a cultured family, she grew up receiving a careful education, both traditional and European, learning to speak English and to play piano and being initiated into the arts such as painting, cooking and kōdō.

[4] Shōda attended Futaba Elementary School in Kōjimachi, a neighbourhood in Chiyoda, Tokyo, but was required to leave in her fourth-grade year because of the American bombings during World War II.

After the death of Empress Kōjun in 2000, Reuters announced that she had been one of the strongest opponents of the marriage and that, in the 1960s, she had driven her daughter-in-law to depression by persistently accusing her of not being suitable for her son.

[10] In accordance with tradition, Shōda received a personal emblem (o-shirushi (お印)): the white birch of Japan (Shirakaba (白樺)) upon admission to the imperial family.

The couple have three children (two sons and a daughter): In 1963, the Associated Press reported that the Crown Princess, then about three months pregnant, underwent an abortion on 22 March, in Tokyo.

[11] As the article stated, "The operation was advised by her physician, Prof. Takashi Kobayashi, who delivered Michiko's first child, three-year-old Prince Hiro, a spokesman said.

[12] She and her husband have also built up a strong position among the general public, by their frequent trips in the 47 prefectures in the country to meet people but also for the liberties taken by the imperial couple vis-a-vis the protocol.

Beginning in 2014 they passed on these duties to the younger generation though it was announced by the Imperial Household Agency that their health had no bearing on this decision.

[14] Following the death of her mother-in-law, Empress Dowager Nagako, on 16 June 2000, she succeeded her as honorary president of the Japanese Red Cross Society.

From 1994 to 2019, the Empress offered a part of the harvested silk of the koishimaru variety (the oldest species now kept in Japan) to the Shōsōin Treasure-house in the Buddhist temple Tōdai-ji in Nara to be used for the restoration of its treasures.

[18] In August 2023, Michiko and Akihito visited the tennis court where they first met and interacted with members of the organization responsible for its upkeep.

She is also a fan of poetry, including the works of Michio Mado that she has selected, compiled and translated several of his poems in a series of collections under the titles Dobutsu-tachi (Animals) in 1992 and Fushigi na Poketto (The Magic Pocket) in 1998.

[12] She is a hibernophile with an interest in Children of Lir, recites I See His Blood Upon The Rose by Joseph Plunkett as a party piece, and even speaks passable Irish.

[24] Michiko suffered from several nervous breakdowns because of the pressure of the media and, according to Reuters, the attitude of her mother-in-law, Empress Nagako, that had resulted in particular in making her lose her voice for seven months in the 1960s.

She briefly collapsed at the Akasaka Palace on her birthday in 1993 and did not speak for two months, a condition caused by "deep sadness" and attributed by her doctors to negative media coverage.

[25] Empress Michiko had to cancel many of her official duties in the spring of 2007, while suffering from mouth ulcers, nosebleeds and intestinal bleeding due to psychological stress, according to her doctors.

[27] In June 2019, it was announced that Michiko had heart valve abnormalities and an irregular pulse, though she was reported to be well enough to undergo cataract operations.

[28] In August 2019, it was revealed that she was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer a month prior while undergoing a routine medical appointment, and was scheduled to have the growth removed.