Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito

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HIH Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito
19 September 1867 - 27 June 1922
His Imperial Highness Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito
Place of birth	Kyoto, Japan
Place of death	Tokyo, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Navy
Years of service	1891 - 1922
Rank	Fleet Admiral
Battles/wars	First Sino-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War
Awards	Order of the Golden Kite (3rd Class)

Fleet Admiral Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito (東伏見宮依仁親王, Higashifushimi-no-miya Yoshihito-Shinnō ^?) (19 September 1867 - 27 June 1922) was the second (and last) head of the Higashifushimi-no-miya, one of the oke cadet branches of the Japanese imperial family.

1 Early life
2 Marriage and family
3 Military career
4 References
- 4.1 External links

[edit] Early life

Born on 19 September 1867, as seventieth (and posthumous) son of Prince Fushimi Kuniye. He was a younger half-brother of Field Marshal Prince Komatsu Akihito, Prince Kuni Asahiko, General Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa, Field Marshal Prince Kan'in Kotohito and Field Marshal Prince Fushimi Sadanaru.

Originally styled "Prince Fushimi Sadamaro", he was adopted into the Yamashina-no-miya household in 1869, followed by the Komatsu-no-miya house in 1885. He succeeded to the Higashifushimi-no-miya title upon the death of the first head, Prince Komatsu Akihito, on 3 February 1903.

King David Kalākaua, the last reigning king of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, visited Japan during his round-the-world tour of 1881. He was the first foreign head of state to visit Japan. During his visit, he proposed a marital alliance between the royal houses of Japan and Hawai'i, wherein his niece (Princess Ka'iulani) would marry Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito (then styled Prince Yamashina Yorihito). Nothing came of the proposal, which might have made a significant impact on the eventual fate of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

[edit] Marriage and family

On 10 February 1893, Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito married Iwakura Kaneko (1876-1946), the eldest daughter of Prince Iwakura Tomomi. As the couple remained childless, the Higashifushimi-no-miya lineage became extinct with the death of Prince Yorihito.

In 1931, Emperor Hirohito directed his brother-in-law, Prince Kuni Kunihide, to leave Imperial Family status and become Count Higashifushimi Kunihide (hakushaku under the kazoku peerage system), to prevent the Higashifushimi name from dying out. Dowager Princess Higashifushimi Kaneko became a commoner on 14 October 1947. She died in Tokyo in 1948.

[edit] Military career

Prince Higashifushimi Yoshihito attended the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy briefly, but was then sent to study at Dartmouth Royal Naval College in Great Britain. He lived in France from 1887-1890 and graduated from the French Naval Academy. He returned to Japan on 7 October 1891. After serving on the various vessels in the Imperial Japanese Navy, including combat duty in the First Sino-Japanese War, he became second-in-command of the battleship Fusō on 12 December 1901, and captain of the Chiyoda on 12 January 1905. He later captained the Takachiho(1905) and the Kasuga (1906).

Prince Higashifushimi was awarded with the Order of the Golden Kite (3rd Class) for his service during the Russo-Japanese War. In 1906, he joined the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff. He was promoted to rear admiral on 1 December 1909.

Prince and Princess Higashifushimi represented Emperor Meiji at the coronation ceremonies of King George V of Great Britain (June 30, 1911).

After his promotion to vice admiral on 31 August 1913, he served as Commander in Chief of the Yokosuka Naval District in 1916, and Commander in Chief of the IJN 2nd Fleet in 1917. Promoted to admiral on 2 July 1918, he made one last trip to the United Kingdom from 1918-1919, and he was given the posthumous title of fleet admiral on his death on 27 June 1922.

[edit] References

Dupuy, Trevor N. (1992). Encyclopedia of Military Biography. I B Tauris & Co Ltd. ISBN 1-85043-569-3.
Jansen, Marius B. (2000). The Making of Modern Japan. Belknap Press. ISBN 0674009916.