Empress Kōjun
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| Nagako Kuni | ||
|---|---|---|
| Empress of Japan | ||
| Titles | HIM The Empress Dowager of Japan (1989-2000) HIM The Empress of Japan (1926-1989) HIH The Crown Princess of Japan (1924-1926) HIH Princess Nagako of Kuni (1903-1926) |
|
| Born | March 6, 1903 | |
| Tokyo, Japan | ||
| Died | June 16, 2000 | |
| Tokyo, Japan | ||
| Consort | December 25, 1926 - January 7, 1989 | |
| Consort to | Hirohito | |
| Issue | Shigeko, Sachiko, Kazuko, Atsuko, Akihito, Masahito, Takako | |
| Father | Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi | |
| Mother | Chikako Shimazu | |
Empress Kōjun of Japan was born Princess Kuni Nagako (Japanese: 久邇宮良子女王 kuni no miya nagako joō) (March 6, 1903 - June 16, 2000). She was the consort of the Showa Emperor, and mother of Emperor Akihito.
The Empress Nagako, known posthumously as Empress Kōjun (香淳皇后 kōjun kōgō?), was the longest lived empress consort (kōgo) in Japanese history. She was Crown Princess from 26 January 1924 to 25 December 1926, Empress from 25 December 1926 to 7 January 1989, and Empress Dowager from 7 January 1989 to 16 June 2000.
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[edit] Early life
Princess Nagako was born on 6 March 1903 in Tokyo, the eldest daughter of Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi (久邇宮邦彦 kuni no miya kuniyoshi ō?, born at Kyoto, 23 July 1873 - 29 January 1929), by his wife, Chikako (俔子 chikako?, born at Kagoshima, 19 October 1879 - 10 September 1956), the 7th daughter of Prince Shimazu Tadayoshi, former lord of Satsuma, 29th and last daimyo of the line. Prince Kuniyoshi Kuni, a son of Prince Kuni Asahiko, was the head of one eleven cadet branches of the imperial family during the Meiji and Taisho periods. Princess Nagako attended the Girls' Department of Peers' School in Tokyo (now Gakushuin) with her first cousin, Princess Masako Nashimoto known later as Princess Bangja of Korea.
[edit] Marriage
The January 1919 engagement of Princess Nagako to her distant cousin then-Crown Prince Hirohito was unusual in two respects. First, she was a princess of the imperial blood (albeit a minor one), whereas for centuries the chief consorts of Japanese emperors and crown princes had come one of the five senior branches of the Fujiwara clan (Konoe, Ichijō, Nijō, Takatsukasa, and Kujō), the most illustrious families of the court nobility or kuge. Second, although Princess Nagako's father was an offshoot of the imperial family, her mother descended from daimyo, the feudal or military aristocracy.
[edit] Children
Princess Nagako married then Crown Prince Hirohito on 26 January 1924 and became empress upon his accession to the throne on 25 December 1925. The Emperor and Empress had seven children, five daughters and two sons:
- Princess Teru (Shigeko) (照宮成子 teru no miya shigeko), b. 9 December 1925, d. 23 July 1961, later Mrs. Higashikuni Morihiro;
- Princess Hisa (Sachiko) (久宮祐子 hisa no miya sachiko), b. 10 September 1927, d. 8 March 1928;
- Princess Taka (Kazuko) (孝宮和子 taka no miya kazuko), b. 30 September 1929, d. 28 May 1989, later Mrs. Takatsukasa Toshimichi;
- Princess Yori (Atsuko) (順宮厚子 yori no miya atsuko), b. 7 March 1931, now Mrs. Ikeda Takamasa;
- Crown Prince Tsugu (Akihito) (継宮明仁 tsugu no miya akihito) became the present Emperor of Japan, Akihito, b. 23 December 1933;
- Prince Yoshi (Masahito) (義宮正仁 yoshi no miya masahito), b. 28 November 1935, titled Prince Hitachi (常陸宮 hitachi no miya) since 1 October 1964; and
- Princess Suga (Takako) (清宮貴子 suga no miya takako), b. 3 March 1939, now Mrs. Shimazu Hisanaga.
The daughters who lived to adulthood, left the imperial family as a result of the American reforms of the Japanese imperial household in October 1947 (in the case of Princess Higashikuni) or under the terms of the 1947 Imperial Household Law at the moment of their subsequent marriages (in the cases of Princesses Yori, Taka, and Suga).
[edit] Life as empress
Although she performed her ceremonial duties as empress in a traditional way, the Empress was the first Japanese imperial consort to travel abroad. She accompanied Emperor Showa on his European tour in 1971 and later on his state visit to the United States in 1975. She became known as the "smiling Empress".
After the Emperor Hirohito's death in 1989, she assumed the title of Empress Dowager. At that time she was in failing health herself and did not attend Hirohito's funeral. Her last public appearance was in 1988. She was in seclusion for the rest of her life. In 1996 official photos of the Dowager Empress were distributed upon popular demand. At the time of her death at the age of 97 in 2000 she had been an empress for 74 years. Akihito granted his mother the posthumous title of Empress Kōjun.
