Prince , 2nd Prince Tokugawa (March 23, 1884 – February 18, 1963) Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese political figure of the 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...

 and Shōwa period

Showa period

The , or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926 through January 7, 1989.The Shōwa period was longer than the reign of any previous Japanese emperor...

. Seventeenth head of the former Tokugawa shogunal house, he held a variety of government positions, including ambassador to Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. He was the final president of the House of Peers

House of Peers (Japan)

The ' was the upper house of the Imperial Diet as mandated under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan ....

 of Japan, serving from 19 June 1946 until 2 May 1947, when the Allied occupation authorities authorized the current Constitution of Japan

Constitution of Japan

The is the fundamental law of Japan. It was enacted on 3 May, 1947 as a new constitution for postwar Japan.-Outline:The constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government and guarantees certain fundamental rights...

 abolishing the House of Peers and the institution of the nobility.

It is noteworthy that he married the daughter of Shimazu Tadayoshi, the former daimyo of Satsuma han

Satsuma han

The Satsuma domain was one of the most powerful feudal domains in Tokugawa Japan, and played a major role in the Meiji Restoration and in the government of the Meiji period which followed...

, who had been antagonistic to his family in the 1860s.

As his son Iefusa died early, Iemasa was succeeded by his grandson, Tokugawa Tsunenari

Tokugawa Tsunenari

Present head of the main Tokugawa house. His great-grandfather by his birth family was the famed Matsudaira Katamori of Aizu...

.