Takahito
Prince Mikasa
A photo of Prince Mikasa aged 97
Prince Mikasa in 2012
BornTakahito, Prince Sumi (澄宮崇仁親王)
(1915-12-02)2 December 1915
Tokyo Imperial Palace, Tokyo City, Empire of Japan
(now Chiyoda, Tokyo)
Died27 October 2016(2016-10-27) (aged 100)
St. Luke's International Hospital, Chūō, Tokyo, Japan
Burial4 November 2016
Toshimagaoka Imperial Cemetery, Tokyo
Spouse
​
(m. 1941)​
Issue
HouseImperial House of Japan
FatherEmperor Taishō
MotherSadako Kujō
Military career
Allegiance Empire of Japan
Service/branch Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service1932–1945
Rank Major
Unit
Battles/wars

Takahito, Prince Mikasa (三笠宮崇仁親王, Mikasa-no-miya Takahito Shinnō, 2 December 1915 – 27 October 2016) was a Japanese prince, the youngest of the four sons of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako). He was their last surviving child. His eldest brother was Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). After serving as a junior cavalry officer in the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, Prince Mikasa embarked upon a post-war career as a scholar and part-time lecturer in Middle Eastern studies and Semitic languages; he was especially interested in Jewish studies.

Prince Mikasa married Yuriko Takagi in 1941, and they had three sons and two daughters. Prince and Princess Mikasa outlived all three of their sons. With the death of his sister-in-law Kikuko, Princess Takamatsu, on 17 December 2004, Prince Mikasa became the oldest living member of the Imperial House of Japan. He remained active until a few months before his death at the age of 100. At the time of his death, Prince Mikasa was the oldest living royal.[1][2][3]

Early life

Emperor Taishō's four sons in 1921: Hirohito, Takahito, Nobuhito and Yasuhito

Prince Takahito was born at the Tokyo Imperial Palace on 2 December 1915 to Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei. He was fourteen years younger than his eldest brother, Crown Prince Hirohito (the future Emperor Shōwa). His childhood appellation was Sumi-no-miya. Prince Takahito attended the boys' elementary and secondary departments of the Gakushūin (Peers' School) from 1922 to 1932. By the time he began his secondary schooling, his eldest brother had already ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne and his next two brothers, Prince Chichibu and Prince Takamatsu, had already embarked upon careers in the Japanese Imperial Army and the Japanese Imperial Navy respectively. Takahito enrolled in the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1932 and was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant and assigned to the Fifth Cavalry Regiment in June 1936. He subsequently graduated from the Army Staff College.

Upon attaining the age of majority in December 1935, Emperor Shōwa granted him the title Mikasa-no-miya (Prince Mikasa) and the authorization to form a new branch of the Imperial Family.

Military service

Prince Mikasa on the Yokosuka Line in 1946

Prince Mikasa was promoted to lieutenant in 1937 and to captain in 1939, serving in China under the name of "Wakasugi". During his army career, he was harshly critical of the Japanese military's conduct in China.[4] In a 1994 interview, he criticized the Imperial Army's invasion of and atrocities in China, and recalled having been "strongly shocked" when an officer informed him that the best way to train new recruits was to use living Chinese POWs for bayonet practice.[4] According to Daniel Barenblatt, Prince Mikasa and his cousin Prince Tsuneyoshi Takeda received a special screening by Shirō Ishii of a film showing airplanes loading germ bombs for bubonic plague dissemination over the Chinese city of Ningbo in 1940.[5] He also was given a film of Japanese atrocities, possibly linked to the footage used in the American propaganda film, The Battle of China, and was so moved that he made his brother Emperor Hirohito watch the film.[6]

In one of Prince Mikasa's memoirs, he wrote that he toured Unit 731's headquarters in China and was shown films showing Chinese prisoners "made to march on the plains of Manchuria for poison gas experiments on humans."[7]

In 1994, a newspaper revealed that after Prince Mikasa's return to Tokyo, he had written a stinging indictment of the conduct of the Imperial Japanese Army in China, where the Prince had witnessed Japanese atrocities against Chinese civilians. The Imperial Army General Staff suppressed the document, but one copy survived and surfaced in 1994.[8] After the war, it was reported that while an officer, Prince Mikasa had taken a strict stance against lax discipline and the cruel actions of Japanese soldiers serving in China.[9]

In an interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun, Mikasa detailed the extent of Japanese military atrocities against the Chinese. He said, “I was really shocked when an officer told me that the best way to train new soldiers was to use living prisoners of war for bayonet practice because it gave them will power.” [10] “It was truly a horrible scene that can only be termed a massacre,” he said.[11] Out of a desperate desire to end the war, he wrote and delivered a speech that condemned Japanese troop aggression against the Chinese, elaborating that repeated rape, plunder and killing of civilians created strong anti-Japanese feelings in China, and that the puppet government in Nanjing was an attempt to cover up Japan's policy of aggression in China.[12] He also disclosed that the Japanese served fruit contaminated with cholera germs to a team from the League of Nations that came to investigate Japan's invasion of China.[13] They did not develop the disease.[13] The army tried to destroy all copies of his speech, but one was discovered.[13]

He also said he watched an army film that showed Japanese troops yelling and gassing Chinese prisoners who were tied to stakes.[13] He stated that he did not talk about his written speech with his brother, Emperor Hirohito, but he said he once showed the emperor a Chinese-made film of Japanese atrocities.[14]

Promoted to major in 1941, Prince Mikasa served as a staff officer in the Headquarters of the China Expeditionary Army at Nanjing, China from January 1943 to January 1944. His role was intended to bolster the legitimacy of the Wang Jingwei regime and to coordinate with Japanese Army staff towards a peace initiative, but his efforts were totally undermined by the Operation Ichi-Go campaign launched by the Imperial General Headquarters.[15]

Prince Mikasa served as a staff officer in the Army Section of the Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo until Japan's surrender in August 1945. After the end of the war, the Prince spoke before the Privy Council, urging that Hirohito abdicate to take responsibility for the war.[16]

Marriage

Takahito wearing the sokutai

On 22 October 1941, Prince Mikasa married Yuriko Takagi (born 4 June 1923), the second daughter of Viscount (kazoku, pre-war Japan's upper classes) Masanari Takagi. Prince and Princess Mikasa had five children. The couple's two daughters left the Imperial Family upon marriage. All of their sons predeceased them. In addition to their five children, they had nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren as of 2022.[17]

Children

  • Yasuko Konoe (近衛やす子, Konoe Yasuko) (formerly Princess Yasuko of Mikasa (甯子内親王, Yasuko Naishinno, born 26 April 1944); married on 16 December 1966 to Tadateru Konoe, younger brother of former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa and adopted grandson (and heir) of former Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe, currently President of the Japanese Red Cross Society; has a son, Tadahiro, who has three children.
  • Prince Tomohito of Mikasa (寬仁親王, Tomohito Shinnō, 5 January 1946 – 6 June 2012); heir apparent; married on 7 November 1980 to Nobuko Asō (born 9 April 1955), third daughter of Takakichi Asō, chairman of Asō Cement Co., and his wife, Kazuko, the daughter of former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida; had two daughters.
  • Yoshihito, Prince Katsura (桂宮宜仁親王, Katsura-no-miya Yoshihito Shinnō, 11 February 1948 – 8 June 2014); created Katsura-no-miya on 1 January 1988.
  • Masako Sen (千容子, Sen Masako) (formerly Princess Masako of Mikasa (容子内親王, Masako Naishinnō, born 23 October 1951); married on 14 October 1983 to Sōshitsu Sen (born 7 June 1956), the elder son of Sōshitsu Sen XV, and currently the sixteenth hereditary grand master (iemoto) of the Urasenke Japanese tea ceremony School; and has two sons, Akifumi and Takafumi, and a daughter, Makiko.
  • Norihito, Prince Takamado (高円宮憲仁親王, Takamado-no-miya Norihito Shinnō, 29 December 1954 – 21 November 2002); created Takamado-no-miya on 1 December 1984; married on 6 December 1984 to Hisako Tottori (born 10 July 1953), eldest daughter of Shigejiro Tottori, former president of Mitsui & Co. in France; and had three daughters.

Post-war career

Prince Mikasa, 1958. National Archives of Brazil.

After the defeat of Japan in World War II, many members of the imperial family, such as Princes Chichibu, Takamatsu and Higashikuni, pressed Emperor Hirohito to abdicate so that one of the Princes could serve as regent until Crown Prince Akihito came of age.[18] On 27 February 1946, Prince Mikasa even stood up in the Privy Council and indirectly urged the Emperor to step down and accept responsibility for Japan's defeat. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, the most senior-ranking United States military commander in Japan at the time, insisted that Emperor Hirohito retain the throne. According to Minister of Welfare Ashida's diary, "Everyone seemed to ponder Mikasa's words. Never have I seen His Majesty's face so pale."[19]

After the war, Prince Mikasa enrolled in the Literature Faculty of the University of Tokyo and pursued advanced studies in archaeology, Middle Eastern studies, and Semitic languages. From 1954 until his death in 2016, he directed the Japanese Society for Middle East Studies. He was honorary president of the Japan Society of Orientology. The Prince held visiting and guest faculty appointments in Middle Eastern studies and archaeology at various universities in Japan and abroad, including: Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Aoyama Gakuin, Tokyo Woman's Christian University, the University of London, Hokkaido University and Shizuoka University. He made numerous radio and television appearances, speaking on cultural subjects, and was known as "the Imperial scholar".[20] He was especially interested in Jewish studies, and believed "The truth incarnated in Judaism, a truth of being rather than of theory, is the central meaning of history. … History had brought him—Prince Mikasa—to the Jew, he said, and Judaism had brought him back to himself. For the Jew is not only the father of the West, he is the scion of the Orient. He is the holy bridge (a traditional and poignant Japanese symbol) between East and West. Through understanding Judaism, the Prince regained a sense of his dignity as a member of his people; he was again proud to be Japanese[21]."

Final years and death

Towards the end of his life, due to his advanced age, Prince Mikasa rarely made public appearances, and regularly used a wheelchair. He and Princess Mikasa lived together at a residence in the grounds of the Akasaka Estate in Motoakasaka, Minato, Tokyo. He underwent heart surgery in 2012, and made a full recovery. His routine included exercising for about 30 minutes each day with his wife at their Tokyo residence, and he often went outdoors for a roll in his wheelchair. About once a week, he would leave his home for a haircut, or to attend various events for other family members. In October 2014, he attended the Tokyo wedding of his granddaughter Princess Noriko, the second daughter of his youngest son Prince Takamado. Palace staff noted that he appeared vigorous until his last days, and that he would always be seen helping his wife to get about.[20] He continued to read newspapers, and enjoyed watching sumo and music programs on television.[22]

On 2 December 2015, Prince Mikasa became the first member of the imperial family to become a centenarian.[lower-alpha 1] On his 100th birthday, he said, "Nothing will change just because I turn 100 years old. I'd like to spend my days pleasantly and peacefully while praying for the happiness of people around the world and thanking my wife, Yuriko, who has been supporting me for more than 70 years."[22] At his residence in April 2016, he met the Japanese ambassador to Turkey and took a stroll at the Akasaka Detached Palace.[9]

On 16 May 2016, Prince Mikasa was admitted to the intensive-care unit of St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo's Chuo Ward, having contracted acute pneumonia.[20] He remained in hospital for the remaining months of his life. His heart weakened in June, and fluid accumulated in his lungs.[9] Princess Yuriko frequently visited him along with other Imperial family members, including the Emperor and Empress in June. During his last days, Prince Mikasa remained responsive to visitors.[20] On 22 October, Prince Mikasa and his wife celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary in his hospital room.[9] His condition eventually stabilised to the point where he began to receive rehabilitation in his bed, which included stretching his arms and legs. At 7:40 a.m. on 27 October, however, his heart gradually slowed, stopping at 8 a.m. Prince Mikasa was pronounced dead at 8:34 a.m., with his wife at his side. At his death, he had outlived all of his siblings and all three of his sons.[9][20] He was also the last surviving grandson of Emperor Meiji.

Prince Mikasa's funeral was held on 4 November 2016 at Toshimagaoka Imperial Cemetery.[24] About 580 people including members of the Imperial Family, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, and former imperial family members Sayako Kuroda and Noriko Senge and their husbands, attended the funeral.[24] Princess Mikasa hosted the ceremony as the chief mourner.[24]

Honours

National

Foreign

Honorary positions

  • Honorary President of the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan
  • Honorary President of the Japan – Turkey Society
  • Honorary Vice-President of the Japanese Red Cross Society[29]

Issue

NameBirthDeathMarriage Issue
Date Spouse
Yasuko Konoe
(Princess Yasuko of Mikasa)		26 April 194416 December 1966Tadateru KonoeTadahiro Konoe
Prince Tomohito of Mikasa5 January 19466 June 20127 November 1980Nobuko AsōPrincess Akiko of Mikasa
Princess Yōko of Mikasa
Yoshihito, Prince Katsura11 February 19488 June 2014None
Masako Sen
(Princess Masako of Mikasa)		23 October 195114 October 1983Sōshitsu Sen XVIAkifumi Kikuchi
Makiko Sakata
Takafumi Sen
Norihito, Prince Takamado29 December 195421 November 20026 December 1984Hisako TottoriPrincess Tsuguko of Takamado
Noriko Senge
(Princess Noriko of Takamado)
Ayako Moriya
(Princess Ayako of Takamado)

Ancestry

[30]

Patrilineal descent

Patrilineal descent[31]
Imperial House of Japan
  1. Descent prior to Keitai is unclear to modern historians, but traditionally traced back patrilineally to Emperor Jimmu
  2. Emperor Keitai, ca. 450–534
  3. Emperor Kinmei, 509–571
  4. Emperor Bidatsu, 538–585
  5. Prince Oshisaka, ca. 556–???
  6. Emperor Jomei, 593–641
  7. Emperor Tenji, 626–671
  8. Prince Shiki, ???–716
  9. Emperor Kōnin, 709–786
  10. Emperor Kanmu, 737–806
  11. Emperor Saga, 786–842
  12. Emperor Ninmyō, 810–850
  13. Emperor Kōkō, 830–867
  14. Emperor Uda, 867–931
  15. Emperor Daigo, 885–930
  16. Emperor Murakami, 926–967
  17. Emperor En'yū, 959–991
  18. Emperor Ichijō, 980–1011
  19. Emperor Go-Suzaku, 1009–1045
  20. Emperor Go-Sanjō, 1034–1073
  21. Emperor Shirakawa, 1053–1129
  22. Emperor Horikawa, 1079–1107
  23. Emperor Toba, 1103–1156
  24. Emperor Go-Shirakawa, 1127–1192
  25. Emperor Takakura, 1161–1181
  26. Emperor Go-Toba, 1180–1239
  27. Emperor Tsuchimikado, 1196–1231
  28. Emperor Go-Saga, 1220–1272
  29. Emperor Go-Fukakusa, 1243–1304
  30. Emperor Fushimi, 1265–1317
  31. Emperor Go-Fushimi, 1288–1336
  32. Emperor Kōgon, 1313–1364
  33. Emperor Sukō, 1334–1398
  34. Prince Yoshihito Fushimi, 1351–1416
  35. Prince Sadafusa Fushimi, 1372–1456
  36. Emperor Go-Hanazono, 1419–1471
  37. Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado, 1442–1500
  38. Emperor Go-Kashiwabara, 1464–1526
  39. Emperor Go-Nara, 1495–1557
  40. Emperor Ōgimachi, 1517–1593
  41. Prince Masahito, 1552–1586
  42. Emperor Go-Yōzei, 1572–1617
  43. Emperor Go-Mizunoo, 1596–1680
  44. Emperor Reigen, 1654–1732
  45. Emperor Higashiyama, 1675–1710
  46. Prince Naohito Kanin, 1704–1753
  47. Prince Sukehito Kanin, 1733–1794
  48. Emperor Kōkaku, 1771–1840
  49. Emperor Ninkō, 1800–1846
  50. Emperor Kōmei, 1831–1867
  51. Emperor Meiji, 1852–1912
  52. Emperor Taishō, 1879–1926
  53. Takahito, Prince Mikasa

Notes

  1. ↑ A cousin, Higashifushimi Kunihide, was 103 at his death in 2014, but had left the imperial family in 1931 to establish a branch of the Higashifushimi-no-miya.[23] Another cousin, Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, lived to 102 but lost his imperial titles after World War II.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "Prince Mikasa, Emperor Akihito's uncle, turns 100". The Japan Times. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "Prince Mikasa, a China war veteran who spanned three reigns, dies at 100". The Japan Times. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  3. ↑ Kaneko, Kaori (27 October 2016). "Japan's Prince Mikasa, oldest imperial family member, dies at 100". Reuters. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  4. 1 2 Yoshida, Reiji (27 October 2016). "Prince Mikasa, a China war veteran who spanned three reigns, dies at 100". The Japan Times. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  5. ↑ Daniel Barenblatt, A Plague upon Humanity, 2004, p.32.
  6. ↑ 「闇に葬られた皇室の軍部批判」、『This is 読売』、一九九四年八月号57ページ
  7. ↑ Kristof, Nicholas (17 March 1995). "Unmasking Horror -- A special report.; Japan Confronting Gruesome War Atrocity". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  8. ↑ McCarthy, Terry (6 July 1994). "Tokyo 'in 1931 Poison Plot'". The Independent. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "UPDATE: Prince Mikasa, uncle of Akihito, dies at 100 years old". Asahi Shimbun. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "Centenarian Japanese prince who loved dancing and hated war laid to rest". Reuters. 4 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "Hirohito's Brother Assailed Japan's WW II 'Aggression' : Asia: Late emperor's sibling confirms a bold 1944 speech to troops condemning military policy, atrocities in China". Los Angeles Times. 7 July 1994.
  12. ↑ "Hirohito's brother condemns Japan's wartime aggression".
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Hirohito's Brother Says Japan Was Brutal Aggressor in War". Associated Press.
  14. ↑ "New Hirohito Revelations Startle Japan". Chicago Tribune.
  15. ↑ Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, 2000, Page 474
  16. ↑ Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, 2000, Page 572
  17. ↑ "Princess Yuriko, oldest in Japan's Imperial Family, turns 99". Arab News. 4 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  18. ↑ Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, 2000, pp. 571–573.
  19. ↑ Ashida Hitoshi Nikki, Dai Ikkan, Iwanami Shoten, 1986, p. 82.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 "Prince Mikasa spent his last years peacefully at Tokyo residence". The Japan Times. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  21. ↑ "Japan's Takahito Mikasa at 100: A Prince Among the Jews". Tablet Magazine. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  22. 1 2 "Prince Mikasa, Emperor Akihito's uncle, turns 100". The Japan Times. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  23. ↑ 東伏見慈洽さん死去 天皇陛下の叔父 [Emperor's uncle, Higashifumi Kunihide dies]. Asahi Shimbun Digital (in Japanese). The Asahi Shimbun Company. 1 January 2014. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  24. 1 2 3 "Prince Mikasa laid to rest in Imperial rite". The Japan Times. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  25. ↑ "Persondetaljer - Hans Kejserlige Højhed Mikasa" [Person Details - His Imperial Highness Mikasa] (in Danish). Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  26. ↑ "S.A.I. Takahito di Mikasa Principe del Giappone" [S.A.I. Takahito Mikasa, Prince of Japan]. Presidenza della Repubblica (Presidency of the Republic) (in Italian). Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  27. ↑ Nationaal Archief, inventory 2.02.32, dossier 529/530
  28. ↑ "Atatürk Uluslararası Barış Ödülü – AYK". www.ayk.gov.tr. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  29. ↑ "The Japanese Red Cross Society at a Glance". Japanese Red Cross Society. Archived from the original on 27 July 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  30. ↑ "Genealogy". Reichsarchiv (in Japanese). Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  31. ↑ "Genealogy of the Emperors of Japan" (PDF). Imperial Household Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.

Sources

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