Emperor Taishō

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**Emperor Taishō**

Given name:	Yoshihito (嘉仁)
Childhood name:	Haru-no-miya
Dates of reign:	1912 – 1926
Era name:	Taishō (大正)
Era dates:	July 30, 1912 – December 25, 1926
Posthumous name:	Emperor Taishō (大正天皇)
Born:	August 31, 1879
Father:	Emperor Meiji
Mother:	Yanagiwara Naruko

Emperor Taishō (大正天皇, Taishō Tennō^?); (31 August 1879 – 25 December 1926), whose given name was Yoshihito (嘉仁), was the 123rd imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, from 30 July 1912 until his death in 1926.

1 Early life
2 As Emperor
3 Honors
4 See also
5 Gallery

[edit] Early life

Prince Yoshihito was born at the Aoyama Palace in Tokyo to Emperor Meiji and Yanagiwara Naruko, a lady-in-waiting. As was common practice at the time, Emperor Meiji's consort, Empress Shoken (Haruko), was officially regarded as his mother. He received the personal name of Yoshihito Shinno and the title Haru-no-miya from Emperor Meiji on 6 September 1879.

Prince Yoshihito contracted meningitis within three weeks after birth, leaving him in poor health both physically and mentally. (There are also rumors that he suffered from lead poisoning, supposedly contracted from the powder makeup his wetnurse used.) Despite this, after his four older brothers suffered early deaths, he was officially declared heir apparent on 31 August 1887 and had his formal investiture as crown prince on 3 November 1888.

As was the practice at the time, he was entrusted to the care of Prince Nakayama Tadayasu [peer], in whose house he lived until the age of seven. Tutors taught the prince and selected classmates at a special school, the Gogakumonsho, within the Aoyama Detached Palace. In September 1887 entered the elementary department of the Gakushuin, but due to his health problems was often unable to continue his studies. He spent much of his youth by the sea in Atami for health reasons. Although he showed skill in some areas, such as horse-riding, he proved to be poor in areas requiring higher-level thought. He was finally withdrawn from Gakushuin before finishing the middle school course in 1894. However, he did appear to have an aptitude for languages, and continued to receive extensive tutoring in French, Chinese and history from private tutors at the Akasaka Palace; Emperor Meiji gave Prince Takehito responsibility for taking care of Prince Yoshihito, and the two princes became friends.

On 10 May 1900, Crown Prince Yoshihito married the then 15-year-old Sadako, the daughter of Prince Kujo Mitchitaka, the head of the five senior branches of the Fujiwara clan, and had issue:

The future Emperor Hirohito (Showa), (29 April 1901–7 January 1989); married Princess Nagako (6 March 1903–16 June 2000), eldest daughter of Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi; and had issue.
Prince Chichibu (Yasuhito), (26 May 1902 –4 January 1953); married 28 September 1928 Miss Matsudaira Setsuko (9 September 1909–25 August 1995), eldest daughter of Mr. Matsudaira Tsuneo, sometime Japanese ambassador to Britain and the United States, and imperial household minister; no issue.
Prince Takamatsu (Nobuhito), (1 March 1905–3 February 1987); married 4 February 1930 Tokugawa Kikuko (26 December 1911–18 December 2004), second daughter of Prince Tokugawa Yoshihisa [peer]; no issue.
Prince Mikasa (Takahito), (born 2 December 1915); married 22 October 1941 Yuriko (born 6 June 1923), second daughter of Viscount Takagi Masanori.

The marriage is said to have improved his physical health, and shortly afterward he embarked upon a tour of Japan, one of the first times in history that Japanese commoners were able to come in direct contact with the heir to the throne.

In 1906, the Crown Prince commissioned an extensive renovation of his official residence, the Akasaka Detached Palace (currently Japan's State Guesthouse) in a lavish European rococo style.

In October 1907, the Crown Prince toured Korea, accompanied by Admiral Togo Heihachiro, General Katsura Taro, and Prince Arisugawa Taruhito. It was the first time the heir apparent to the throne had ever left Japan. He began studying the Korean language shortly afterwards, although he never became proficient at that language.

[edit] As Emperor

After his accession to the throne in 1912, Yoshihito was kept out of view of the public as much as possible. He suffered from various neurological problems throughout his life and by the late 1910s, these maladies made it all but impossible for him to carry out public functions.

On one of the rare occasions he was seen in public, the 1913 opening of the Diet, he is famously reported to have rolled his prepared speech into a telescope and stared at the assembly through it. Although this is often cited as an example of his poor mental condition, others believe he may have been checking to make sure the speech was rolled up properly, as his manual dexterity was also handicapped.

World War I occurred during the reign of Emperor Taisho, and as a result of the war, the Japanese empire expanded to include Germany's former colonies in the central Pacific (the Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands and Palau), as well as the German military port of Tsingtao on Shandong peninsula on the Chinese mainland. Japan was recognized as one of the great powers in the new post-war world order, and became a founding member of the League of Nations.

After 1919, he undertook no official duties, and Crown Prince Hirohito (who would succeed Taishō as Emperor) was named Prince Regent on 25 November 1921.

He died of a heart attack at 1:25 AM on 25 December 1926 at the imperial palace at Hayama, in Kanagawa Prefecture.