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Yoshihito, the Taisho Emperor (August
31,
1879 -
December 25,
1926, r.
1912-1926), was the 123rd
Emperor of Japan. He was the surviving son of
Emperor Meiji by Yanagiwara Naruko, a lady-in-waiting at the Imperial
Palace. Emperor Meiji's consort, Empress Shoken (Haruko), was officially
regarded as his mother. He received personal name of Yoshihito and the
title Haru no miya (Prince Haru) by the emperor on September 6, 1879. He
was officially declared heir apparent on August 31, 1887 and had his
formal investiture as crown prince on November 3, 1888.
On May 25, 1900, Crown Prince Yoshihito married Sadako (b. at Tokyo
June 25, 1884, d. at Omiya Palace, Tokyo May 17, 1951), the daughter of
Prince Kujo Mitchitaka [peer], the head of the five senior branches of the
Fujiwara clan. The marriage produced four sons:
- The future Emperor Showa (Hirohito), b. April 29, 1901, d. January
7, 1989; married Princess Nagako (b. March 6, 1903, d. June 16, 2000),
eldest daughter of Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi; and had issue.
- Prince Chichibu (Yasuhito), b. May 26, 1902, d. January 4, 1953;
married September 28, 1928 Miss Matsudaira Setsuko (b. September 9,
1909, d. August 25, 1995), eldest daughter of Mr. Matsudaira Tsuneo,
sometime Japanese ambassador to Great Britain and the United States, and
imperial household minister; no issue.
- Prince Takamatsu (Nobuhito), b. March 1, 1905, d. February 3, 1987;
married February 4, 1930 Tokugawa Kikuko (b. December 26 1911), second
daughter of Prince Tokugawa Yoshihisa [peer]; no issue.
- Prince Mikasa (Takahito), b. December 2, 1915; married Octeober 22,
1941 Yuriko (b. June 6, 1923), second daughter of Viscount Takagi
Masanori.
Yoshihito had contracted
meningitis shortly after birth, leaving him in poor health both
physically and mentally. (There are also rumors of
lead poisoning.) He was kept out of view from the public as much as
possible, even after his ascension to the throne in 1912. On one of the
rare occasions he was seen in public, the 1913 opening of the Diet, he
famously rolled his prepared speech into a telescope and stared at the
assembly through it instead of reading it. After 1919, he undertook no
official duties, and Hirohito was named Prince Regent in 1921.
Upon his death, he was succeeded by his son,
Hirohito.
Preceded by:
Mutsuhito, the Meiji Emperor |
List of Japanese Emperors |
Succeeded by:
Hirohito, the Showa Emperor |
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