Hiro Saga
Encyclopedia
Lady , was the daughter of Marquis Saga and distant relative of Japanese Emperor Shōwa
. She was married in 1937 to H.I.H. Prince
Pujie
, brother of the Emperor Puyi
(China 1908-1912 and Manchukuo
1934-1945). After her marriage to Prince Pujie, she was known as, and identified herself as, Aisin-Gioro Hiro (愛新覺羅•浩), or Aisin-Gioro Hao in Manchu language
.
court nobility and a branch of the Ogimachi Sanjo（:ja:正親町三条家） branch of the northern Fujiwara （:ja:藤原北家） lineage. Hiro was born in Tokyo
as the eldest daughter of Marquis
Saneto Saga（ja） in 1914. She was educated at the Women's branch of the Gakushuin
Peers’ School.
In 1936, she was introduced to Prince Pujie
, younger brother of the Manchukuo Emperor Puyi
, who was attending the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, in an arranged marriage
interview. Pujie had selected her photograph from a number of possible candidates vetted by the Kwantung Army. As his brother Emperor Puyi was without a direct heir, the wedding had strong political implications, and was aimed at both fortifying relations between the two nations and introducing Japanese blood into the Manchurian Imperial family.
The engagement ceremony took place at the Embassy of Manchukuo in Tokyo on 2 February 1937 with the official wedding held in the Imperial Army Hall at Kudanzaka, Tokyo on 3 April. In October, the couple moved to Hsinking, the capital of Manchukuo. They had two daughters and what appeared to be a happy marriage.
During the Evacuation of Manchukuo
during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, Hiro was separated from her husband. While Prince Pujie accompanied Emperor Puyi in an attempt to escape by air, Princess Hiro and her younger daughter were sent by train towards Korea
together with the Empress Wan Rong
. The train was captured by Chinese communist troops at the town of Dalizi, now in Linjiang, Jilin
（ja）, in January 1946. In April, they were moved to a police station in Changchun
, eventually released only to be rounded up again and locked up at a police station in Kirin
in the north. When Kuomingtang forces bombed Kirin, the royal prisoners were moved to Yanji
Prison., and Princess Hiro and her daughter were then taken to prison in Shanghai
, and eventually repatriated to Japan. In 1961, after the release of her husband from prison, the couple was reunited with permission by Chinese premier Zhou Enlai
, and lived in Beijing
from 1961, until her death in 1987.
She and her husband are buried in an Aisin-Gioro family plot in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi
, with their eldest daughter, Huisheng.
慧生 (1938–1957) - H. H. Princess (Chün Chu Kung Chu) Huisheng, was born at Hsingking on February 1939 and educated privately and then studied at Gakushuin
University. She was killed in Izu, near Tokyo on 10 December 1957 in what appears to have been a double-suicide.
Princess Aisin-Gioro Yunsheng（ja） 嫮生 (1940– ) - H.H. Princess (Chün Chu Kung Chu) Yunsheng was educated privately and then studied at Gakushuin Women's University in Tokyo. She later married Kosei Fukunaga, a former Japanese aristocrat employed in the automobile industry in Tokyo. She has five children.
in Japan in the autumn of 2003, under the title Ruten no Ōhi - Saigo no Kōtei（ja）. The role of Hiro Saga was played by actress Takako Tokiwa
. Tokiwa and Hiro's grandson (Yunsheng's son) were classmates.
Machiko Kyō
played her in the 1960 movie Ruten no Ōhi, but all the names of real people were changed to aliases in that film.
Hirohito
, 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...
. She was married in 1937 to H.I.H. Prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
Pujie
Pujie
-External links:**...
, brother of the Emperor Puyi
Puyi
Puyi , of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, was the last Emperor of China, and the twelfth and final ruler of the Qing Dynasty. He ruled as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 until his abdication on 12 February 1912. From 1 to 12 July 1917 he was briefly restored to the throne as a nominal emperor by the...
(China 1908-1912 and Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
1934-1945). After her marriage to Prince Pujie, she was known as, and identified herself as, Aisin-Gioro Hiro (愛新覺羅•浩), or Aisin-Gioro Hao in Manchu language
Manchu language
Manchu is a Tungusic endangered language spoken in Northeast China; it used to be the language of the Manchu, though now most Manchus speak Mandarin Chinese and there are fewer than 70 native speakers of Manchu out of a total of nearly 10 million ethnic Manchus...
.
Biography
The Saga family was of the kugeKuge
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...
court nobility and a branch of the Ogimachi Sanjo（:ja:正親町三条家） branch of the northern Fujiwara （:ja:藤原北家） lineage. Hiro was born in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; 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...
as the eldest daughter of Marquis
Marquis
Marquis is a French and Scottish title of nobility. The English equivalent is Marquess, while in German, it is Markgraf.It may also refer to:Persons:...
Saneto Saga（ja） in 1914. She was educated at the Women's branch of the 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...
Peers’ School.
In 1936, she was introduced to Prince Pujie
Pujie
-External links:**...
, younger brother of the Manchukuo Emperor Puyi
Puyi
Puyi , of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, was the last Emperor of China, and the twelfth and final ruler of the Qing Dynasty. He ruled as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 until his abdication on 12 February 1912. From 1 to 12 July 1917 he was briefly restored to the throne as a nominal emperor by the...
, who was attending the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, in an arranged marriage
Omiai
or is a Japanese traditional custom in which unattached individuals are introduced to each other to consider the possibility of marriage. Since this "Miai" or "Omiai" was sometimes translated as "arranged marriage" in English and other foreign languages, which is a total misnomer, some foreigners...
interview. Pujie had selected her photograph from a number of possible candidates vetted by the Kwantung Army. As his brother Emperor Puyi was without a direct heir, the wedding had strong political implications, and was aimed at both fortifying relations between the two nations and introducing Japanese blood into the Manchurian Imperial family.
The engagement ceremony took place at the Embassy of Manchukuo in Tokyo on 2 February 1937 with the official wedding held in the Imperial Army Hall at Kudanzaka, Tokyo on 3 April. In October, the couple moved to Hsinking, the capital of Manchukuo. They had two daughters and what appeared to be a happy marriage.
During the Evacuation of Manchukuo
Evacuation of Manchukuo
The Evacuation of Manchukuo occurred during the Soviet Red Army's invasion of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo as part of the wider Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation of August 1945....
during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, Hiro was separated from her husband. While Prince Pujie accompanied Emperor Puyi in an attempt to escape by air, Princess Hiro and her younger daughter were sent by train towards Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
together with the Empress Wan Rong
Wan Rong
Lady Gobulo, Empress Xiaokemin , better known as Empress Wanrong, was the Empress of Puyi, the last Emperor of China and final ruler of the Qing Dynasty. She became empress of the puppet state of Manchukuo when Puyi was declared emperor of that state by the Empire of Japan.-Early life and marriage...
. The train was captured by Chinese communist troops at the town of Dalizi, now in Linjiang, Jilin
Linjiang, Jilin
Linjiang is a county-level city in southern Jilin province of Northeast China, located to the east of Tonghua, and not far from the border with North Korea. It is a county-level city under the administration of Baishan.-Geography:...
（ja）, in January 1946. In April, they were moved to a police station in Changchun
Changchun
Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...
, eventually released only to be rounded up again and locked up at a police station in Kirin
Jilin
Jilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
in the north. When Kuomingtang forces bombed Kirin, the royal prisoners were moved to Yanji
Yanji
Yanji , also known as Yeon'gil from its Korean name , is the seat of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, eastern Jilin province, Northeast China. Its population is approximately 400,000 of which a large section is ethnic Korean...
Prison., and Princess Hiro and her daughter were then taken to prison in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, and eventually repatriated to Japan. In 1961, after the release of her husband from prison, the couple was reunited with permission by Chinese premier Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
, and lived in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
from 1961, until her death in 1987.
She and her husband are buried in an Aisin-Gioro family plot in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi
Yamaguchi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Yamaguchi, in the center of the prefecture. The largest city, however, is Shimonoseki.- History :...
, with their eldest daughter, Huisheng.
Descendants
Princess Aisin-Gioro HuishengHuisheng
Aisin-Gioro Huisheng was a Princess of the Manchu ruling family. She was the elder daughter of Pujie and his Japanese wife, the noblewoman Hiro Saga. Her uncle, Puyi, was the last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty....
慧生 (1938–1957) - H. H. Princess (Chün Chu Kung Chu) Huisheng, was born at Hsingking on February 1939 and educated privately and then studied at 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...
University. She was killed in Izu, near Tokyo on 10 December 1957 in what appears to have been a double-suicide.
Princess Aisin-Gioro Yunsheng（ja） 嫮生 (1940– ) - H.H. Princess (Chün Chu Kung Chu) Yunsheng was educated privately and then studied at Gakushuin Women's University in Tokyo. She later married Kosei Fukunaga, a former Japanese aristocrat employed in the automobile industry in Tokyo. She has five children.
Dramatization
A dramatization of the life of Prince Pujie and Hiro Saga appeared as a television drama on TV AsahiTV Asahi
, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....
in Japan in the autumn of 2003, under the title Ruten no Ōhi - Saigo no Kōtei（ja）. The role of Hiro Saga was played by actress Takako Tokiwa
Takako Tokiwa
Takako Tokiwa is a Japanese actress. Takako was born in Yokohama, Japan.She was nominated for the "Best Actress" award at the Japanese Academy Awards in 2005 for her performance in Akai Tsuki.- Films :...
. Tokiwa and Hiro's grandson (Yunsheng's son) were classmates.
Machiko Kyō
Machiko Kyo
is a Japanese actress whose film work occurred primarily during the 1950s. She rose to extraordinary domestic praise in Japan for her work in two of the greatest Japanese films of the 20th century, Akira Kurosawa's Rashōmon and Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu.Machiko trained to be a dancer before...
played her in the 1960 movie Ruten no Ōhi, but all the names of real people were changed to aliases in that film.