was a scion of the Japanese imperial family and was a career naval officer who served as chief of staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

 from 1932 to 1941.

Early life

Prince Hiroyasu 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 Prince Narukata, the eldest son of Prince Fushimi Sadanaru

Prince Fushimi Sadanaru

was the 22nd head of the Fushimi-no-miya shinnōke . He was a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army.- Early life :...

 (1858–1922) and Princess Arisugawa Toshiko (1858–1930), the daughter of Prince Arisugawa Taruhito

Prince Arisugawa Taruhito

became the 9th head of line of shinnōke cadet branches of the Imperial Family of Japan on September 9, 1871. He was a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army.-Early life:...

. The twenty-second head of the Fushimi-no-miya

Fushimi-no-miya

The ' is the oldest of the four shinnōke, branches of the Imperial Family of Japan which were eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in the event that the main line should die out....

, one of the four shinnōke

Shinnoke

was the collective name for the four cadet branches of the Imperial Household of Japan, which were until 1947 entitled to provide a successor to the Chrysanthemum throne if the main line failed to produce an heir...

cadet branches of the imperial family entitled to succeed to the throne in default of a direct heir, Prince Fushimi a second cousin to both Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito)

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...

 and Empress Kōjun

Empress Kojun

' was empress consort of Emperor Hirohito of Japan. Born , she was the mother of the present Emperor .Her posthumous name is Kōjun, which means "fragrant purity"...

, and nephew of Prince Kan'in Kotohito

Prince Kan'in Kotohito

, wasthe sixth head of a cadet branch the Japanese imperial family, and a career army officer who served as Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff from 1931 to 1940.-Early years:...

He succeeded to title Kachō-no-miya

Oke

The , were branches of the Japanese Imperial Family created from branches of the Fushimi-no-miya house. All but one of the ōke were formed by the descendants of Prince Fushimi Kuniye. The ōke were stripped of their membership in the Imperial Family by the American Occupation Authorities in...

 on April 23, 1883, upon which he changed his name from "Narukata" to "Hiroyasu," but returned to the house of Fushimi-no-miya on January 16, 1904.

Marriage & family

On January 9, 1896, Prince Hiroyasu married Tokugawa Tsuneko (1882–1939), the ninth daughter of Prince Tokugawa Yoshinobu

Tokugawa Yoshinobu

was the 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful...

, Japan's last Shogun

Shogun

A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...

, with whom he had six children:

2. ; Married Marquis Asano Nagatake
3. ; Became Prince Kachō Hirotada
   Prince Kacho Hirotada
   align=right| of Japan, was a member of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family.-Biography:Prince Hirotada was the second son of Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu. His mother was Tokugawa Tsuneko, the 9th daughter of the last Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu...
   
   
4. ; Became Marquis Kachō Hironobu
   Kacho Hironobu
   , was a descendent of the Fushimi-no-miya collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family.-Biography:Born as Prince Fushimi Hironobu, the third son of Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu, he was also the younger brother of Prince Kachō Hirotada. As Prince Hirotada died without heirs, the Kachō-no-miya...
   
   : took peerage title of Marquis and succeeded to head of Kachō-no-miya
   Kacho-no-miya
   The Kachō no Miya is the Imperial Branch House miyake established in the fourth year of the Keiou Era, or 1868, by the twelfth prince of Fushimi no Miya Kuniie, named Kacho no Miya Hirotsune...
   
    household
5. ; Married Count Kiyosu Yukiyasu.
6. ; married Prince Kuni Asaakira
   Prince Kuni Asaakira
   , was third head of the Kuni-no-miya, a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family and vice admiral in the Japanese Imperial Navy during World War II...
   
   .
7. ; Became Count Fushimi Hirohide
   Count Fushimi Hirohide
   of Japan, was a member of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family.-Biography:Born as Prince Fushimi Hirohide, the younger son of Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu, he was also the younger brother of Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi, Prince Kachō Hirotada and Marquis Kachō Hironobu.Prince Hirohide , on...
   
   : took peerage title of Count, served in IJN, KIA.

Military career

Prince Hiroyasu dropped out of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy

Imperial Japanese Naval Academy

The was a school established to train officers for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It originally located in Nagasaki, moved to Yokohama in 1866, and was relocated to Tsukiji, Tokyo in 1869. It moved to Etajima, Hiroshima in 1888...

, moved to Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in 1889, and graduated from the Naval Academy of the Kaiserliche Marine

Kaiserliche Marine

The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...

 in 1895. He spoke fluent German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

. Prince Fushimi served as a lieutenant commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...

 in the Russo-Japanese War

Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...

 (1904–05). He sustained wounds aboard the battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

 Mikasa

Japanese battleship Mikasa

is a pre-Dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, launched in Britain in 1900. She served as the flagship of Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō during the Battle of the Yellow Sea on 10 August 1904, and the Battle of Tsushima on 27 May 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War. The ship is preserved as...

 in the Battle of the Yellow Sea

Battle of the Yellow Sea

The Battle of the Yellow Sea was a major naval engagement of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 10 August 1904. In the Russian Navy, it was referred to as the Battle of 10 August. The battle foiled an attempt by the Russian fleet at Port Arthur to break out and form up with counterparts from...

 (August 1904). He later served as executive officer

Executive officer

An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...

 on the cruiser Niitaka

Japanese cruiser Niitaka

was the lead ship of the Niitaka class protected cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was the sister ship of the . The Niitaka is named after Mount Niitaka in Taiwan, at the time, the tallest mountain in the Japanese Empire.-Background:...

, battleship Okinoshima

Japanese battleship Okinoshima

The General Admiral Graf Apraksin , sometimes transliterated as Apraxin, was a member of the s of the Imperial Russian Navy. She was named after General Admiral Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin, the first commander of Russian Baltic Fleet. She was one of eight Russian pre-dreadnought battleships...

, and cruisers Naniwa

Japanese cruiser Naniwa

was the first protected cruiser built specifically for the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was the lead ship of the s, built in the Armstrong Whitworth shipyard in Great Britain. The name Naniwa comes from an ancient province of Japan, now part of Osaka-fu...

 and Nisshin

Japanese cruiser Nisshin

, also transliterated as Nissin, was a armored cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy designed and built by Ansaldo in Genoa Italy, where the type was known as the . Designed as a cross between a battleship and a cruiser, but with a very small displacement, it had the ability to stand in the line...

. He was awarded the Order of the Golden Kite

Order of the Golden Kite

The ' was an order of the Empire of Japan, established on 12 February 1890 by Emperor Meiji "in commemoration of Jimmu Tennō, the Romulus of Japan."-Background:...

, 4th class, for his services in the Russo-Japanese War.

He studied in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 from 1907–1910 and upon his return to Japan commanded the cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

 Takachiho

Japanese cruiser Takachiho

was the second protected cruiser built for the Imperial Japanese Navy by the Armstrong Whitworth shipyard in Great Britain. The name Takechiho comes from a 1574 meter tall mountain in the volcanic Kirishima range between Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures in Japan...

 (1910), and later the Asahi

Japanese battleship Asahi

|-External links:***...

 and the battlecruiser

Battlecruiser

Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...

 Ibuki

Japanese cruiser Ibuki

was the lead ship in the 2-vessel Ibuki class of armoured cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Ibuki was named after Mount Ibuki located between Gifu and Shiga prefectures in Honshū...

. He rose to vice admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

 on December 1, 1916 and full admiral

Admiral

Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...

 on December 1, 1922. He was a member of the Supreme War Council

Supreme War Council (Japan)

The Supreme War Council was established during the development of representative government in Meiji period Japan to further strengthen the authority of the state. Its first leader was Yamagata Aritomo , a Chōshū native who has been credited with the founding of the modern Japanese army and was to...

 from 1920 onward. He was a strong supporter of the Fleet Faction

Fleet Faction

The was an unofficial and informal political faction within the Imperial Japanese Navy in the 1920s-1930s of officers opposed to the conditions imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty.-Background:...

 within the Navy, pushing for cancellation of the Washington Naval Agreement and the building of a more powerful navy.

Prince Hiroyasu succeeded his father as the twenty-third head of the house of Fushimi in 1923. He was appointed commander of the Sasebo Naval District

Sasebo Naval District

was the third of five main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the western and southern coastline of Kyūshū, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and Korea, as well as patrols in the East China Sea and the Pacific...

 in 1924. Admiral Prince Fushimi became the chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff

Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff

The was the highest organ within the Imperial Japanese Navy. In charge of planning and operations, it was headed by an Admiral headquartered in Tokyo.-History:...

 on February 2, 1932, replacing Admiral Abo Kiyokazu, and held the post to April 9, 1941.

Prince Fushimi received the largely honorary rank of fleet admiral

Admiral of the Fleet (Japan)

' was the highest rank in the prewar Imperial Japanese Navy. The term gensui was used for both the Navy and the Imperial Japanese Army, and was a largely honorific title awarded for extremely meritorious service to the Emperor. In the Meiji period, the title was awarded to 5 generals and 3 admirals...

 on May 27, 1932 and the Collar of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum

Order of the Chrysanthemum

is Japan's highest order. The Grand Cordon of the Order was established in 1876 by Emperor Meiji of Japan; the collar of the Order was added on January 4, 1888. Although technically the order has only one class, it can either be awarded with collar , or with grand cordon...

 in 1934.

While he was Chief of Staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service

The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service was the air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, the organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War.It was controlled by the Navy Staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy and...

 used strategic bombing

Strategic bombing during World War II

Strategic bombing during World War II is a term which refers to all aerial bombardment of a strategic nature between 1939 and 1945 involving any nations engaged in World War II...

 against Chinese cities including 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 Chongqing

Bombing of Chongqing

The bombing of Chongqing was part of a terror bombing operation conducted by Imperial Japanese Army Air Service and Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service on the Chinese provisional capital of Chongqing, authorized by the Imperial General Headquarters.A conservative estimate places the...

. The bombing of Nanjing

Nanjing

' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...

 and Guangzhou

Guangzhou

Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

, which began on September 22–23, 1937, resulted in widespread international condemnation of Japan and a resolution against Japan by the Far Eastern Advisory Committee of the League of Nations

League of Nations

The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...

.

As Chief of Staff, he supported the "southward advance

Nanshin-ron

The was a political doctrine in the pre-WW2 Japan which stated that Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands were Japan's sphere of interest and that the potential value to the Japanese Empire for economic and territorial expansion in those areas was greater than elsewhere.This political doctrine...

" into northern French Indochina

French Indochina

French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....

 and the Dutch East Indies

Dutch East Indies

The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....

, but expressed reservations about the Tripartite Pact

Tripartite Pact

The Tripartite Pact, also the Three-Power Pact, Axis Pact, Three-way Pact or Tripartite Treaty was a pact signed in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 1940, which established the Axis Powers of World War II...

 during the September 19, 1940 Imperial Conference.

Hiroyasu Fushimi was awarded the Order of the Golden Kite

Order of the Golden Kite

The ' was an order of the Empire of Japan, established on 12 February 1890 by Emperor Meiji "in commemoration of Jimmu Tennō, the Romulus of Japan."-Background:...

, 1st class, in 1942. He remained a member of the Supreme War Council throughout the Pacific War

Pacific War

The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

, but officially retired from the active list in 1945.

After the war, Fushimi was the honorary president of the Imperial Life Boat Association, the Japan Seamen's Relief Association, the Cancer Research Society, the Naval Club, the Japan-German Society, and the Scientific and Chemical Research Institute.

Like all members of the Imperial family involved in the conduct of the war, Prince Fushimi was exonerated from criminal prosecutions before the Tokyo tribunal by Douglas MacArthur

Douglas MacArthur

General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...

. He died in Tokyo shortly after the end of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

on August 16, 1946.