Prince Mikasa
Encyclopedia
is a member of the Imperial House of Japan
Imperial House of Japan
The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the Yamato Dynasty, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the emperor is the symbol of the state and unity of the people...
. He is the fourth and youngest son of Emperor Taishō
Emperor Taishō
The was the 123rd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 30 July 1912, until his death in 1926.The Emperor’s personal name was . According to Japanese customs, the emperor has no name during his reign and is only called the Emperor...
and Empress Teimei. His eldest brother was 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 is the only surviving paternal uncle of Emperor Akihito. With the death of his sister-in-law, Princess Takamatsu
Princess Takamatsu
Princess Takamatsu of Japan, , known informally as Princess Kikuko, was a member of the Japanese imperial family. The Princess was the widow of Prince Takamatsu , the third son of the Emperor Taishō and the Empress Teimei...
(Kikuko), on 17 December 2004, he became the oldest living member of the Imperial House of Japan. After serving as a junior cavalry officer in the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, the prince embarked upon a postwar career as a scholar and part-time lecturer in Middle Eastern studies and Semitic languages
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 270 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa...
.
Early life
Prince Takahito was born at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, in the third year of his father's reign and a full fifteen years after the birth of the future Shōwa emperor. His childhood appellation was Sumi no miya. Prince Takahito attended the boys' elementary and secondary departments of the Gakushuin (Peers' School)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...
from 1922 to 1932. By the time he began his secondary schooling, his eldest brother had already ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne
Chrysanthemum Throne
The is the English term used to identify the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term can refer to very specific seating, such as the takamikura throne in the Shishin-den at Kyoto Imperial Palace....
and his next two brothers, Prince Chichibu
Prince Chichibu
, also known as Prince Yasuhito, was the second son of Emperor Taishō and a younger brother of the Emperor Shōwa. As a member of the Imperial House of Japan, he was the patron of several sporting, medical, and international exchange organizations...
and Prince Takamatsu
Prince Takamatsu
was the third son of HIM Emperor Taishō and HIM Empress Teimei and a younger brother of the HIM Emperor Shōwa . He became heir to the Takamatsu-no-miya , one of the four shinnōke or branches of the imperial family entitled to inherit the Chrysanthemum throne in default of a direct heir...
, had already embarked upon careers in the Japanese Imperial Army and the Japanese Imperial Navy, respectively. He enrolled in the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1932 and was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant and assigned to the Fifth Cavalry Regiment in June 1936. He subsequently graduated from the Army Staff College
Army War College (Japan)
The ; Short form: of the Empire of Japan was founded in 1882 in Minato, Tokyo to modernize and Westernize the Imperial Japanese Army. Much of the empire's elite including prime ministers during the period of Japanese militarism were graduates of the college....
.
Upon attaining the age of majority in December 1935, Emperor Shōwa granted him the title Mikasa-no-miya (Prince Mikasa) and the authorization to form a new branch of the Imperial Family.
Military service
Prince Mikasa was promoted to lieutenant (first class) in 1937; to captain in 1939; and to major in 1941.According to Daniel Barenblatt, Prince Mikasa received, with Prince Tsuneyoshi Takeda, a special screening by Shirō Ishii
Shiro Ishii
was a Japanese microbiologist and the lieutenant general of Unit 731, a biological warfare unit of the Imperial Japanese Army responsible for human experimentation and war crimes during the Second Sino-Japanese War.-Early years:...
of a film showing airplanes loading germ bombs
Biological warfare
Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war...
for bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
dessemination over the Chinese city of Ningbo
Ningbo
Ningbo is a seaport city of northeastern Zhejiang province, Eastern China. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, the municipality has a population of 7,605,700 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 3,089,180 in the built up area made of 6 urban districts. It lies south of the Hangzhou Bay,...
in 1940.
Prince Mikasa served as a staff officer in the Headquarters of the China Expeditionary Army at 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...
, China from January 1943 to January 1944. His role was intended to bolster the legitimacy of the Nanjing Nationalist government
Wang Jingwei Government
In March 1940 a puppet government led by Wang Jingwei was established in the Republic of China under the protection of the Empire of Japan. The regime officially called itself the Republic of China and its government the Reorganized National Government of China...
and to coordinate with Japanese Army staff towards a peace initiative, but his efforts were totally undermined by the Operation Ichi-Go campaign launched by the Imperial General Headquarters
Imperial General Headquarters
The as part of the Supreme War Council was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime...
.
In 1994, a newspaper revealed that after his return to Tokyo, he wrote a stinging indictment of the conduct of the Imperial Japanese Army in China, where the Prince had witnessed Japanese atrocities
Japanese war crimes
Japanese war crimes occurred during the period of Japanese imperialism, primarily during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Some of the incidents have also been described as an Asian Holocaust and Japanese war atrocities...
against Chinese civilians. The Army General Staff suppressed the document, but one copy survived and surfaced in 1994.
Prince Mikasa served as a staff officer in the Army Section of the Imperial General Headquarters
Imperial General Headquarters
The as part of the Supreme War Council was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime...
in Tokyo until Japan's surrender
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...
in August 1945. After the end of the war, the Prince spoke before the Privy Council
Privy Council (Japan)
was an advisory council to the Emperor of Japan that operated from 1888 to 1947.-Functions:Modeled in part upon the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, this body advised the throne on matters of grave importance including:...
, urging that Hirohito abdicate to take responsibility for the war.
Ancestry
Marriage
On 22 October 1941, Prince Mikasa married Yuriko TakagiPrincess Mikasa
was second daughter of Viscount Masanari Takagi, and through marriage, a member of the Imperial House of Japan.-Biography:Princess Mikasa graduated from Gakushuin Women's Academy in 1941. She became engaged to the Takahito, Prince Mikasa on 3 October 1941, with the wedding held on 22 October...
( 6 June 1923 – present), the second daughter of the late Viscount
Viscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
Masanori Takagi. Prince and Princess Mikasa have five children, of whom four are still living. The couple's two daughters left the Imperial Family upon marriage:
Children
- Yasuko Konoe (née ; married 16 December 1966 Mr. Tadateru Konoe, younger brother of former Prime Minister Morihiro HosokawaMorihiro Hosokawais a Japanese politician who was the 79th Prime Minister of Japan from August 9, 1993 to April 28, 1994. His coalition was the first non-Liberal Democratic Party government since 1955.- Early life :...
and adopted grandson (and heir) of former Prime Minister Fumimaro KonoeFumimaro KonoePrince was a politician in the Empire of Japan who served as the 34th, 38th and 39th Prime Minister of Japan and founder/leader of the Taisei Yokusankai.- Early life :...
, currently President of the Japanese Red CrossJapanese Red CrossThe ' is the Japanese affiliate of the International Red Cross.The Imperial Family of Japan traditionally has supported the society, with Empress as Honorary President and other royal family members as vice-presidents. Its headquarters is located in Tokyo and local chapters are set up in all 47...
Society; has a son named, Tadahiro.
}}; heir apparent; married 7 November 1980 to Miss Nobuko Aso (9 April 1955 -), third daughter of the late Mr. Takakichi Aso, chairman of Aso Cement Co., and his wife, Kazuko, the daughter of former Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru; has two daughters.
}}; created Katsura-no-miya, 1 January 1988.
- Masako Sen (née ; married 14 October 1983 to Mr. Masayuki Sen ( 7 June 1956 – present), the elder son of Sen Shoshitu XV, and currently the sixteenth hereditary grand master (iemotoIemotoIemoto is a Japanese term used to refer to the founder or current head master of a certain school of traditional Japanese art...
) of the UrasenkeUrasenkeis the name of one of the main schools of Japanese tea ceremony. It is one of the san-Senke ; the other two are Omotesenke and Mushakōjisenke....
Japanese Tea CeremonyJapanese tea ceremonyThe Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea. In Japanese, it is called . The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called...
School; and has two sons, Akifumi and Takafumi, and a daughter, Makiko.
}}; created Takamado-no-miya, 1 December 1984; married 6 December 1984 to Miss Hisako Tottori ( 10 July 1953 – present), eldest daughter of Mr. Shigejiro Tottori, former President, Mitsui & Co.
Mitsui & Co.
Mitsui & Co., also known as Mitsui Bussan, is one of the largest sogo shosha in Japan, and also part of the Mitsui Group. Its business area covers energy, machinery, chemicals, food, textile, logistics, finance, and more.- History :...
in France; and had three daughters.
Post-war career
After the war, Prince Mikasa enrolled in the Literature Faculty of Tokyo University and pursued advanced studies in archeology, Middle Eastern studiesMiddle Eastern studies
Middle Eastern studies is a name given to a number of academic programs associated with the study of the history, culture, politics, economies, and geography of the Middle East, an area that is generally interpreted to cover a range of nations extending from North Africa in the west to the Chinese...
, and Semitic languages
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 270 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa...
. Since 1954, he has directed the Japanese Society for Middle East Studies. He is honorary president of the Japan Society of Orientology. The Prince has held visiting and guest faculty appointments in Middle Eastern studies and archeology at various universities in Japan and abroad, including: Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
or is one of the oldest and most prestigious art schools in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju, Adachi, Tokyo...
, Aoyama Gakuin
Aoyama Gakuin
is an educational institute in Tokyo, Japan, which comprises Aoyama Gakuin University, Aoyama Gakuin Women's Junior College, Aoyama Gakuin Senior High School, Aoyama Gakuin Junior High School, Aoyama Gakuin Elementary School, and Aoyama Gakuin Kindergarten....
, Tokyo Woman's Christian University
Tokyo Woman's Christian University
, often abbreviated to or TWCU, is a university in Tokyo Japan.-Founding:TWCU was established by Nitobe Inazō , a Japanese agricultural economist and educator, who was appointed as the first president in 1918. The first classes were held in Tsunohazu...
, the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, the University of Hokkaido and the University of Shizuoka
University of Shizuoka
The , is a public university in Shizuoka, Japan.- Overview :The Japanese name of the university is Shizuoka Kenritsu Daigaku , which translates, literally, the "Prefectural University of Shizuoka." Since the English version of the Japanese term for province is unfamiliar to many English speakers,...
.
The residence of Prince and Princess Mikasa is located within the grounds of the Akasaka Detached Palace in Motoakasaka, Minato, Tokyo
Minato, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 1 March 2008, it had an official population of 217,335 and a population density of 10,865 persons per km². The total area is 20.34 km².Minato hosts 49 embassies...
.