Prince Kitashirakawa Nagahisa

Nagahisa, Prince Kitashirakawa
北白川宮永久王
Japanese Imperial Army Captain Prince Kitashirakawa Nagahisa
Prince Kitashirakawa
Reign 1 April 1923 - 4 September 1940 (&1000000000000001700000017 years, &10000000000000156000000156 days)
Predecessor Naruhisa Kitashirakawa
Successor Michihisa Kitashirakawa
Spouse Sachiko Tokugawa 德川祥子
Issue
Michihisa Kitashirakawa 北白川道久
Hatsuko Shimazu 島津肇子
Father Prince Kitashirakawa Naruhisa 北白川宮成久王
Mother Fusako, Princess Kane
周宮房子内親王
Born 19 February 1910(1910-02-19)
Died 4 September 1940(1940-09-04) (aged 30)
HIH Prince Kitashirakawa Nagahisa
Born 19 February 1910
Japan
Died 4 September 1940
Zhangjiakou, Mengjiang
Allegiance Empire of Japan
Service/branch Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service 1931-1940
Rank Captain

Prince Kitashirakawa Nagahisa (北白川宮永久王 Kitashirakawa-no-miya Nagahisa-ō?, February 19, 1910 – September 4, 1940) of Japan, was the 4th head of the Kitashirakawa-no-miya collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family and a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army.

Contents

Early years

Prince Kitashirakawa Nagahisa was the only son of Prince and Princess Kitashirakawa Naruhisa. He succeeded as the head of the Kitashirakawa-no-miya house upon his father's unexpected death in an automobile accident in France in 1923.

Marriage and family

On April 25, 1935, Prince Nagahisa married Tokugawa Sachiko, born 26 August 1916 (1916-08-26) (age 95), the daughter of Baron Tokugawa Yoshikuni. Prince and Princess Kitashirakawa Nagahisa had one son and one daughter:

  1. Prince Kitashirakawa Michihisa (北白川道久 Kitashirakawa Michihisa-ō?, b. 2 May 1937 (1937-05-02) (age 74))
  2. Princess Kitashiakawa Hatsuko (肇子女王 Hatsuko Joō?, b. 13 November 1939 (1939-11-13) (age 72)), married Duke Shimazu

Military career

Prince Nagahisa graduated from the 43rd class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1931, and was commissioned a sub-lieutenant in field artillery. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1936 and captain in 1939 after his graduation from the 52nd class of the Army Staff College. After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Prince was assigned to the North China Area Army. However, on 14 September 1940, Captain Prince Kitashirakawa died in an airplane crash while on duty in Mengjiang, thus becoming the first member of the Imperial Family killed in World War II .

The Prince received a posthumous promotion to major and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum.

Subsequent history

Prince Kitashirakawa Nagahisa's widow, Princess Kitashirakawa Sachiko became a commoner in 1947 with the abolition of the collateral branches of the Japanese imperial family during the American occupation of Japan. She became a professor at Ochanomizu University, and in 1969 entered the service of the Imperial Household Agency. She served for many years as the chief of the ladies-in-waiting to Empress Kōjun.

The site of the Kitashirakawa palace in Tokyo is now the Shin-Takanawa Prince Hotel.

References