Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko
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| Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko | |
 Prime Minister of Japan |
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| In office 17 August 1945 – 9 October 1945 |
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| Preceded by | Suzuki Kantaro |
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| Succeeded by | Kijuro Shidehara |
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| Born | 3 December 1887 Kyoto, Japan |
| Died | 26 January 1990 Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation | Army General, Imperial Prince |
Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko (東久邇宮 稔彦王 Higashikuni no miya Naruhiko ō ?) (3 December 1887 – 20 January 1990) was the 30th Prime Minister of Japan from 17 August 1945 to 9 October 1945 for a period of 54 days. An uncle of Emperor Shōwa twice over, Prince Higashikuni was the only member of the Japanese imperial family to head a cabinet. He also had the shortest tenure of any Japanese prime minister.
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[edit] Early life
Prince Naruhiko was born in Kyoto, the ninth son of Prince Kuni Asahiko (Kuni no miya Asahiko Shinnō) and the court lady Terao Utako. His father, Prince Asahiko (also known as Shōren no miya Sun'yu and Nagakawa no miya Asahiko), was a son of Prince Fushimi Kuniie (Fushimi no miya Kuniie Shinnō), the twentieth head of the Fushimi-no-miya, the oldest of the sesshu shinnōke| or cadet branches of the imperial dynasty from whom an emperor might be chosen in default of a direct heir. Prince Naruhiko was a half-brother of Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi, the father of the future Empress Kōjun, the wife of Emperor Showa. His other half-brothers, Prince Asaka Yasuhiko, Prince Nashimoto Morimasa, and Prince Kaya Kuninori, all formed new branches of the imperial family (ōke) during the Meiji period.
[edit] Marriage and family
Emperor Meiji granted Prince Naruhiko the title Higashikuni no miya and permission to start a new branch of the imperial family on 3 November 1906. Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko married the ninth daughter of Emperor Meiji, Princess Toshiko (11 May 1896 – 5 March 1978), on 18 May 1915. The couple had four sons.
- Prince Higashikuni Morihiro (6 May 1916 – 1 February 1969); married Princess Shigeko (9 December 1925 – 23 June 1961), the eldest daughter of Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kojun.
- Prince Moromasa (Moromasa ō) (1917 - 1 September 1923); died in the Great Kanto Earthquake.
- Prince Akitsune (Akitsune ō), (born 13 May 1920), renounced imperial title and created Marquis Awata, 1940; lost title with enforcement of current Japanese Constitution; 3 May 1947 and adopted the surname Awata.
- Prince Toshihiko (Toshihiko ō), (born 24 March 1929, renounced imperial title and created Count Tarama, 1943; lost title with enforcement of current Japanese Constitution; 3 May 1947 and adopted the surname Tarama; relocated to city of Lins, Brazil, 1950.
[edit] Military career
Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko was a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. In 1908, he graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and, in 1914, he graduated from the Army War College. He was commissioned a captain in the 29th Infantry Brigade, and promoted to Major in the IJA 7th Division in 1915.
He then studied military tactics, at the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in Paris France, from 1920 to 1926. Always somewhat of a rebel, Prince Higashikuni's behavior in Paris scandalized the Imperial Court. He left his wife and children in Japan, and the death of his second son did not prompt his return. He had a French mistress, enjoyed fast cars and high living. In 1926, the Imperial Household Ministry dispatched a chamberlain to Paris to collect him.
Upon his return to Japan, he was assigned to the Army General Staff Headquarters and eventually rose to the rank of major general, having successively served as commander of the 5th Infantry Brigade (1930–34), the IJA Fourth Division (1934–37), the Military Aviation Department (1937–38), and the Second Army in China (1938–39). He was awarded the Order of the Golden Kite, 1st Class in 1940.
Promoted to full general, he served as a member of the Supreme War Council from 1939, the prince served as commander of the Home Defense Command from 1941 to 1944. He colluded with several aristocrats and fellow imperial family members to oust General Tojo Hideki as prime minister following the fall of Saipan to American forces in 1944.
[edit] As Prime Minister
Before the start of the Pacific War, in October 1941, outgoing Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro nominated Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko as his successor. Konoe believed that only a member of the Imperial Family with a distinguished military background could restrain the pro-war faction (Hajime Sugiyama, Tojo Hideki, and Muto Akira). However, both Prince Higashikuni and the Lord Privy Seal, Kido Koichi, believed that it would be inappropriate for a member of the Imperial Family to serve and recommended the appointment of Tojo Hideki, instead.
Prince Higashikuni was part of the conspiracy (with Prince Asaka, Prince Takamatsu, and former Prime Minister Konoe) which ousted Tojo in July 1944.
After the course of the war turned against Japan, Emperor Hirohito appointed Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko to the position of Prime Minister of Japan on 16 August 1945, replacing Admiral Suzuki Kantaro. The mission of the Higashikuni cabinet was two-fold: first, to ensure the orderly cessation of hostilities and demobilization of the Japanese armed forces; and second, to reassure the Japanese people that the imperial institution remained secure. He resigned in October over a dispute with the American occupation forces over the repeal of the 1925 Peace Preservation Law.
[edit] Life as a commoner
After his resignation, Prince Higashikuni asked the emperor for permission to renounce his membership in the Imperial Family and become a commoner. Emperor Shōwa denied the request. However, along with other members of the imperial branch families (shinnōke and ōke, Higashikuni Naruhiko lost his princely title and most of his wealth as a result of the American occupation’s reform of the imperial household on 17 October 1947.
As a private citizen, he operated several unsuccessful retail enterprises (including a provisions store, second-hand goods store, and dressmaker's shop). He even created his own new Zen Buddhism-based religious sect, the Higashikuni-kyo, which was was subsequently banned by the American occupation authorities.
The former prince became the honorary chairman of the International Martial Arts Federation (IMAF) in 1957, and honorary president of several other organizations.
In 1958, Higashikuni Naruhiko published his wartime journals under the title, Ichi Kozuko no senso Nikki (or The War Diary of a Member of the imperial Family). He published his memoirs, Higashikuni Nikki, in 1968.
Former Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko died of heart failure in Tokyo on 20 January 1990 at the age of 102, having outlived his wife, two of his sons, his siblings, and his nephew, the Shōwa Emperor. Higashikuni Naruhiko is today mainly remembered as Japan's first postwar prime minister. He is regarded one of the longest living prime ministers of all time, together with Willem Drees, Christopher Hornsrud en Antoine Pinay.
[edit] Gallery
 Prime Minister HIH Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko (September 1945) |
 HIH Princess Higashikuni Toshiko (wife) |
 HIH Prince Higashikuni Morihiro.jpg (son and heir) |
[edit] External link
[edit] References
- Dower, John W. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. W. W. Norton & Company (2000). ISBN 0-393-32027-8
- Frank, Richard B. Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. Penguin (Non-Classics); Reissue edition (2001). ISBN 0-14-100146-1
- Manchester, William. American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880 – 1964. Little, Brown and Company (1978). ISBN 0-316-54498-1
- Spector, Ronald. Eagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan. Vintage; Vintage edition (1985). ISBN 0-394-74101-3
- Toland, John. The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945. Modern Library; Reprint edition (2003). ISBN 0-8129-6858-1
| Prime Ministers of Japan |  |
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| Itō · Kuroda · Yamagata · Matsukata · Itō (2nd) · Matsukata (2nd) · Itō (3rd) · Okuma · Yamagata (2nd) · Itō (4th) · Katsura · Saionji · Katsura (2nd) · Saionji (2nd) · Katsura (3rd) · Yamamoto · Okuma (2nd) · Terauchi · Hara · Takahashi · To. Kato · Yamamoto (2nd) · Kiyoura · Ta. Kato · Wakatsuki · G. Tanaka · Hamaguchi · Wakatsuki (2nd) · Inukai · Saitō · Okada · Hirota · Hayashi · Konoe · Hiranuma · N. Abe · Yonai · Konoe (2nd) · Tojo · Koiso · K. Suzuki · Prince Higashikuni · Shidehara · Yoshida · Katayama · Ashida · Yoshida (2nd) · Hatoyama · Ishibashi · Kishi · Ikeda · Sato · K. Tanaka · Miki · Fukuda · Ohira · Z. Suzuki · Nakasone · Takeshita · Uno · Kaifu · Miyazawa · Hosokawa · Hata · Murayama · Hashimoto · Obuchi · Mori · Koizumi · S. Abe | ||
