Empress Kojun
Encyclopedia
was empress consort
of Emperor Hirohito of Japan. Born , she was the mother of the present Emperor (Akihito
).
Her posthumous name is Kōjun, which means "fragrant purity". Empress Kōjun was empress consort (kōgō) from 25 December 1926 to 7 January 1989, making her the longest lived empress consort in Japanese history.
, the eldest daughter of Kuniyoshi, Prince Kuni
(1873–1929), by his wife, Chikako (19 October 1879 - 9 September 1956), the 7th daughter of Prince
Shimazu Tadayoshi, former lord of Satsuma, 29th and last daimyo
of the line. Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi, a son of Prince Kuni Asahiko
, was the head of one eleven cadet branches of the Imperial Family during the Meiji
and Taishō
periods. Nagako's formative years were insulated deep inside a Japan which no longer exists. She would become one of the last Japanese who could remember what life was like inside the aristocracy early in the 20th century.
Princess Nagako attended the Girls' Department of Peers' School in Tokyo (now Gakushuin
) with her first cousin, Princess Masako Nashimoto, who became Crown Princess Bangja of Korea. After her betrothal was announced, she began a six-year training program in order to develop the accomplishments deemed necessary for an empress.
, the future Shōwa Emperor), was unusual in two respects. First, she was a princess of the Imperial line (albeit a minor one), whereas for centuries the chief consorts of Japanese emperors and crown princes had come from one of the five senior branches of the Fujiwara clan (Konoe, Ichijō, Nijō, Takatsukasa, and Kujō), the most illustrious families of the court nobility or kuge
. Second, although Princess Nagako's father was an offshoot of the Imperial family, her mother descended from daimyo
, the feudal or military aristocracy.
In a small step away from tradition, Hirohito was allowed to choose his own bride. Nagako herself had no choice in the matter. At the age of 14, she and other eligible young noble women participated in a tea ceremony at the Imperial Palace while the Crown Prince watched unseen through a peephole. On the basis of this brief glimpse in January 1917, Hirohito selected his future wife.
Princess Nagako married Crown Prince Hirohito on 26 January 1924 and became Crown Princess of Japan. She became Empress upon Hirohito's accession to the throne on 25 December 1926. Unlike his predecessors, Emperor Hirohito decided to abandon his 39 court concubines, limiting himself to one wife. After nearly 10 years of marriage, there was still no son, though Nagako had produced four daughters. Then, in 1933, Nagako became pregnant again, giving birth to the present emperor, Akihito. The Imperial couple had seven children, five daughters and two sons:
The daughters who lived to adulthood, left the Imperial family as a result of the American reforms of the Japanese Imperial Household in October 1947 (in the case of Princess Teru) or under the terms of the 1947 Imperial Household Law at the moment of their subsequent marriages (in the cases of Princesses Yori, Taka, and Suga). Since the Princesses married men who were or who would become commoners, they lost their titles as well as their Imperial status.
Empress Nagako performed her ceremonial duties in a traditional manner. She initially came to live in the palace during the time when people spoke an archaic imperial form of Japanese that has largely disappeared. Her role required her to attend special ceremonies such as those for the 2600th anniversary of the legendary foundation of the Empire of Japan
in 1940 or the conquest of Singapore
in 1942.
The Empress was the first Japanese Imperial Consort to travel abroad. She accompanied Emperor Hirohito on his European tour in 1971 and later on his State Visit to the United States in 1975. She became known as the "smiling Empress".
After the Emperor's death on 7 January 1989, she assumed the title of Empress Dowager
. At that time, she was in failing health herself and did not attend her husband's funeral; and she remained in seclusion for the rest of her life. In 1995, she became the longest-living dowager empress, breaking the record of Empress Kanshi, who died 873 years ago.
At the time of her death at the age of 97 in 2000, she had been an empress for 74 years. In her final days, the Imperial Household Agency announced that Nagako was suffering breathing problems but that the illness was not serious. The next day, with her family at her side, she died.
Emperor Akihito granted his mother the posthumous title of Empress Kōjun. Her final resting place is in a mausoleum named Musashino no Higashi no Misasagi, near that of her husband within the Musashino Imperial Graveyard.
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Across the arc of her life and death, Empress Kōjun has been known by number of related, but distinct titles:
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
of Emperor Hirohito of Japan. Born , she was the mother of the present Emperor (Akihito
Akihito
is the current , the 125th emperor of his line according to Japan's traditional order of succession. He acceded to the throne in 1989.-Name:In Japan, the emperor is never referred to by his given name, but rather is referred to as "His Imperial Majesty the Emperor" which may be shortened to . In...
).
Her posthumous name is Kōjun, which means "fragrant purity". Empress Kōjun was empress consort (kōgō) from 25 December 1926 to 7 January 1989, making her the longest lived empress consort in Japanese history.
Early life
Princess Nagako was born on 6 March 1903 in TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, the eldest daughter of Kuniyoshi, Prince Kuni
Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi
was a member of the Japanese imperial family and a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Meiji and Taishō periods. He was the father of Empress Kōjun , and therefore, the maternal grandfather of the present emperor of Japan, Akihito.-Early life:Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi was born in...
(1873–1929), by his wife, Chikako (19 October 1879 - 9 September 1956), the 7th daughter of Prince
Shimazu Tadayoshi, former lord of Satsuma, 29th and last daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
of the line. Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi, a son of Prince Kuni Asahiko
Prince Kuni Asahiko
align=right|, was a member of a collateral line of the Japanese imperial family who played a key role in the Meiji Restoration. Prince Asahiko was an adopted son of Emperor Ninkō and later a close advisor to Emperor Kōmei and Emperor Meiji...
, was the head of one eleven cadet branches of the Imperial Family during the Meiji
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
and Taishō
Taisho period
The , or Taishō era, is a period in the history of Japan dating from July 30, 1912 to December 25, 1926, coinciding with the reign of the Taishō Emperor. The health of the new emperor was weak, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of elder statesmen to the Diet...
periods. Nagako's formative years were insulated deep inside a Japan which no longer exists. She would become one of the last Japanese who could remember what life was like inside the aristocracy early in the 20th century.
Princess Nagako attended the Girls' Department of Peers' School in Tokyo (now Gakushuin
Gakushuin
The or Peers School is an educational institution founded in Tokyo in 1877, during the Meiji period, for the education of the children of the Japanese aristocracy, though it eventually also opened its doors to the offspring of extremely wealthy commoners...
) with her first cousin, Princess Masako Nashimoto, who became Crown Princess Bangja of Korea. After her betrothal was announced, she began a six-year training program in order to develop the accomplishments deemed necessary for an empress.
Marriage and children
The January 1919 engagement of Princess Nagako to her distant cousin (then-Crown Prince HirohitoHirohito
, posthumously in Japan officially called Emperor Shōwa or , was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Although better known outside of Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan he is now referred to...
, the future Shōwa Emperor), was unusual in two respects. First, she was a princess of the Imperial line (albeit a minor one), whereas for centuries the chief consorts of Japanese emperors and crown princes had come from one of the five senior branches of the Fujiwara clan (Konoe, Ichijō, Nijō, Takatsukasa, and Kujō), the most illustrious families of the court nobility or kuge
Kuge
The was a Japanese aristocratic class that dominated the Japanese imperial court in Kyoto until the rise of the Shogunate in the 12th century at which point it was eclipsed by the daimyo...
. Second, although Princess Nagako's father was an offshoot of the Imperial family, her mother descended from daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
, the feudal or military aristocracy.
In a small step away from tradition, Hirohito was allowed to choose his own bride. Nagako herself had no choice in the matter. At the age of 14, she and other eligible young noble women participated in a tea ceremony at the Imperial Palace while the Crown Prince watched unseen through a peephole. On the basis of this brief glimpse in January 1917, Hirohito selected his future wife.
Princess Nagako married Crown Prince Hirohito on 26 January 1924 and became Crown Princess of Japan. She became Empress upon Hirohito's accession to the throne on 25 December 1926. Unlike his predecessors, Emperor Hirohito decided to abandon his 39 court concubines, limiting himself to one wife. After nearly 10 years of marriage, there was still no son, though Nagako had produced four daughters. Then, in 1933, Nagako became pregnant again, giving birth to the present emperor, Akihito. The Imperial couple had seven children, five daughters and two sons:
- Princess Teru (Shigeko) (照宮成子 Teru-no-miya Shigeko), 9 December 1925 – 23 July 1961; married Prince Higashikuni MorihiroHigashikuni Morihiro, formerly was a member of a branch line of the Japanese imperial family and husband of the Emperor Hirohito's eldest daughter.- Early life :The eldest son and heir of Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, Prince Morihiro had the distinction of being a grandson of Emperor Meiji and simultaneously both a...
(he lost his title in 1947, due to the American reforms of the Imperial Household). - Princess Hisa (Sachiko) (久宮祐子 Hisa-no-miya Sachiko), 10 September 1927 – 8 March 1928
- Princess Taka (Kazuko) (孝宮和子 Taka-no-miya Kazuko), 30 September 1929 – 28 May 1989; married Takatsukasa ToshimichiTakatsukasa Toshimichi, son of duke Nobusuke, was a Japanese researcher of trains. He worked at TEI Park, a museum in Tokyo. He married the third daughter of Hirohito, Princess Kazuko; they adopted a son from Ogyū-Matsudaira, Naotake.-References:* Japanese Wikipedia...
- Princess Yori (Atsuko) (順宮厚子 Yori-no-miya Atsuko), born 7 March 1931; married Ikeda Takamasa
- Crown Prince Tsugu (Akihito) (継宮明仁 Tsugu-no-miya Akihito) became the present Emperor of JapanEmperor of JapanThe Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...
, AkihitoAkihitois the current , the 125th emperor of his line according to Japan's traditional order of succession. He acceded to the throne in 1989.-Name:In Japan, the emperor is never referred to by his given name, but rather is referred to as "His Imperial Majesty the Emperor" which may be shortened to . In...
, born 23 December 1933 - Prince Yoshi (Masahito) (義宮正仁 Yoshi-no-miya Masahito), born 28 November 1935, titled Prince HitachiPrince Hitachiis a member of the Imperial House of Japan and the younger brother of current Emperor Akihito. He is the second son and sixth born child of HIM Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun and is fourth in line to the Chrysanthemum throne...
(常陸宮 Hitachi-no-miya) since 1 October 1964 - Princess Suga (Takako) (清宮貴子 Suga-no-miya Takako), born 3 March 1939; married Shimazu Hisanaga.
Life as empress
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
in 1940 or the conquest of Singapore
Battle of Singapore
The Battle of Singapore was fought in the South-East Asian theatre of the Second World War when the Empire of Japan invaded the Allied stronghold of Singapore. Singapore was the major British military base in Southeast Asia and nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East"...
in 1942.
The Empress was the first Japanese Imperial Consort to travel abroad. She accompanied Emperor Hirohito on his European tour in 1971 and later on his State Visit to the United States in 1975. She became known as the "smiling Empress".
After the Emperor's death on 7 January 1989, she assumed the title of Empress Dowager
Empress Dowager
Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...
. At that time, she was in failing health herself and did not attend her husband's funeral; and she remained in seclusion for the rest of her life. In 1995, she became the longest-living dowager empress, breaking the record of Empress Kanshi, who died 873 years ago.
At the time of her death at the age of 97 in 2000, she had been an empress for 74 years. In her final days, the Imperial Household Agency announced that Nagako was suffering breathing problems but that the illness was not serious. The next day, with her family at her side, she died.
Emperor Akihito granted his mother the posthumous title of Empress Kōjun. Her final resting place is in a mausoleum named Musashino no Higashi no Misasagi, near that of her husband within the Musashino Imperial Graveyard.
Titles and Styles
- Her Imperial Highness Princess Nagako of Kuni (1903–1924)
- Her Imperial Highness The Crown Princess of Japan (1924–1926)
- Her Imperial Majesty The Empress of Japan (1926–1989)
- Her Imperial Majesty The Empress Dowager of Japan (1989–2000)
- Empress Kōjun of Japan (Posthumous Name) (2000-)
