Prince Arisugawa Takahito

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Prince Arisugawa Takahito (有栖川宮幟仁親王 Arisugawa-no-miya Takahito-Shinnō?, 17 February 1813 – 4 July 1886) was the eighth head of the Arisugawa-no-miya ( 有栖川宮家?) house, one of the shinnōke branches of the Imperial Family of Japan, which were eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in the event that the main line should die out.

[edit] Biography

Prince Takahito was born in Kyoto as the son of Prince Arisugawa Tsunahito. He succeeded his father as the head of the Arisugawa-no-miya house on 2 April 1845. On 2 June 1848, he married Nijō Hiroko (1819-1875): the daughter of Sadaijin Nijō Narinobu. He had four sons and four daughters.

After the Meiji Restoration, he served as chief of Jingikan (Department of Shinto Affairs). The prince was a master of waka poetry and calligraphy. The official copy of the Meiji Charter Oath was in his handwriting, and he supplied many inscriptions for various Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. His pen-name was Shōzan.

Prince Takahito resigned as head of the Arisugawa-no-miya house in favor of his eldest son, Prince Arisugawa Taruhito, on 9 September 1871. He died in Tokyo on 24 January 1886.

[edit] References

  • Griffis, William Elliott. The Mikado's Empire: Volume 2. Book 2. Personal Experiences, Observations, and Studies in Japan, 1870-1874. Adamant Media Corporation (2000) ISBN: 140219742X
  • Keane, Donald. Emperor Of Japan: Meiji And His World, 1852-1912. Columbia University Press (2005). ISBN: 0231123418
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