Kan'in Haruhito
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| HIH Prince Kanin Haruhito | |
|---|---|
| 3 August 1902 – 14 June 1988 | |
 His Imperial Highness Prince Kan'in Haruhito |
|
| Place of birth | Tokyo, Japan |
| Place of death | Tokyo, Japan |
| Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
| Years of service | 1927–1945 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands | Imperial Japanese Army |
| Battles/wars | Second Sino-Japanese War World War II |
| Awards | Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum |
HIH Kan'in Haruhito (閑院宮春仁王 Kan'in-no-miya Haruhito-ō?); (3 August 1902 – 14 June 1988) was the 7th (and final) head of Kan'in-no-miya ( 有栖川宮家?) line of shinnōke cadet branches of the Imperial Family of Japan.
HIH Prince Kan'in Haruhito was the only son of Field Marshal Prince Kan'in Kotohito (1864-1945) and his consort, the former Sanjo Chieko (1872-1953). He married Ichijo Naoko (b.1908), daughter of Prince Ichijo Saneteru on 14 July 1926.
He was appointed lieutenant in Imperial Japanese Army in 1927 after graduation from the 44th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. Following a course in the Military Staff College in 1932, he was promoted to captain and joined the faculty of the Cavalry School. He rose to the rank of major in 1936, and lieutenant colonel in 1940. He saw a tour of duty in China with the North China Expeditionary Army, but was recalled to Japan in 1941. He was promoted to colonel in 1944 and to general in 1945, when he was placed in command of the Fourth Infantry Division and three independent infantry regiments assigned to combat the projected American landings on the beaches of Kujukurihama, Chiba, outside of Tokyo.
He became the seventh head of the Kan'in-no-miya house upon the death of his father on 21 May 1945.
With the abolition of the collateral branches of the Imperial family and other titles of nobility by the American occupation authorities on 14 October 1947, he became a commoner, and was purged from public life because of his former military career. He pursued several unsuccessful business opportunities, lost his family fortune, and divorced his wife in 1949. Shortly thereafter, he changed his name from Haruhito to Sumihito.
In the early 1970s, Kan'in Sumihito was president of the Japan Yoga Association. He died on 14 June 1988.
[edit] References
- Dupuy, Trevor N. The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1992. ISBN 0-7858-0437-4
- Fujitani,T. Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan. University of California Press; Reprint edition (1998). ISBN: 0520213718
