Shigeko Higashikuni
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Princess Shigeko 照宮成子内親王 |
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Princess Teru | |||||
File:Higashikuni Shigeko (1959).jpg
Shigeko Higashikuni in 1959
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Born | Akasaka Palace, Tokyo, Japan |
6 December 1925||||
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Imperial Household Agency Hospital, Tokyo, Japan |
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Burial | 4 August 1961 Toshimagaoka Imperial Cemetery, Bunkyo, Tokyo |
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Spouse | Prince Morihiro Higashikuni (m.1943–1961; her death) |
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Issue | Prince Nobuhiko Higashikuni (東久邇信彦) Princess Fumiko Higashikuni Naohiko Higashikuni Hidehiko Higashikuni Yūko Higashikuni |
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House | Imperial House of Japan | ||||
Father | Emperor Shōwa | ||||
Mother | Empress Kōjun | ||||
Religion | Shinto |
Shigeko Higashikuni (東久邇成子 Higashikuni Shigeko?, 6 December 1925 – 23 July 1961), born Shigeko, Princess Teru (照宮成子内親王 Teru-no-miya Shigeko Naishinnō?), was the wife of Prince Morihiro Higashikuni and eldest daughter of Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun. As such, she was the eldest sister to the present Emperor of Japan, Emperor Akihito.[1][2]
Contents
Biography
Princess Shigeko was born in Tokyo while her father was still Prince Regent.[3] Her childhood appellation was Teru-no-miya (照宮?). As was the practice of the time, she was not raised by her biological parents after the age of three, but by a succession of court ladies at a separate palace built for her and her younger sisters in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo from 1930. Emperor Shōwa opposed the move, but was unable to defy court tradition.[4] She entered the girls elementary department of the Gakushūin Peer's School in 1932 and completed the secondary department in 1942, learning cooking and literature.
On 9 May 1939, Princess Shigeko rode on the Chōshi Electric Railway Line in Chiba Prefecture from Chōshi to Tōdaimae and back as part of a Gakushūin school outing.[5]
In 1941, she was formally engaged to the eldest son and heir of Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, Prince Morihiro Higashikuni. The bride and groom were first cousins once removed.[1] The couple were officially wed in 1943, upon which her official appellation became Shigeko, Princess Morihiro of Higashikuni (盛厚王妃成子内親王 Morihiro Ōhi Shigeko Naishinnō?). As the wedding occurred in the middle of World War II, ceremonies and expenses were kept to a minimum, and she wore a junihitoe kimono belonging to her mother, Empress Kōjun, rather than having special clothing created for the occasion.
In August 1947, she and her family were reduced to commoner status with the abolition of titles of nobility by the American occupation forces. With rampant post-war inflation, high taxation, and various failed business ventures by her husband, the Higashikuni family was reduced to poverty. In January 1958, she accepted an offer by the Japanese national television network, NHK, to appear before a live audience and explain the New Year's poetry card reading contest and other royal ceremonies. She fell ill in 1960, complaining of stomach pains, and was diagnosed with cancer. Hospitalized at the Imperial Household Agency Hospital in Tokyo, she died on 23 July 1961.[6] Her grave is at the Toshimagaoka imperial cemetery, in Bunkyo, Tokyo.
Family
Prince and Princess Higashikuni had five children, the last three of whom were born after they were reduced in status to commoners:[7]
- Prince Nobuhiko Higashikuni (東久邇宮 信彦王 Higashikuni-no-miya Nobuhiko ō?) (born 10 March 1945); married 1973 Miss Shimada Yoshiko, with one son, Higashikuni Yukihiko (b. 1974)
- Princess Fumiko Higashikuni (文子女王 Fumiko joō?, born 23 December 1946); married Mr. Omura Kazutoshi.
- Hidehiko Higashikuni (東久邇 秀彦?, born 30 June 1949): adopted by the Mibu family as "Mibu Motohiro"
- Naohiko Higashikuni (東久邇 真彦?, born 1953); married to Ms. Sato Kazuko, with two sons, Teruhiko and Mutsuhiko
- Yūko Higashikuni (東久邇 優子?, born 1954)
Titles and styles
Styles of Shigeko, Princess Teru (before the abolition of titles in 1947) |
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Reference style | Her Imperial Highness |
Spoken style | Your Imperial Highness |
Alternative style | Ma'am |
- 6 December 1925 – 10 October 1943: Her Imperial Highness The Princess Teru
- 10 October 1943 – 14 October 1947: Her Imperial Highness Princess Morihiro of Higashikuni
- 14 October 1947 – 23 July 1961: Mrs. Morihiro Higashikuni
Honours
See also List of honours of the Japanese Imperial Family by country
National honours
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown
Ancestry
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Gallery
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Crown Prince Hirohito & Princess Nagako & Princess Shigeko 3.jpg
Crown Prince Hirohito and Crown Princess Nagako with their first daughter, Princess Shigeko in 1926.
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Teru-no-miya Shigeko 1941-nihongami.jpg
Princess Shigeko in 1941
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Teru-no-miya Shigeko 1941.jpg
Princess Shigeko in 1941
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Deceased and former members of the Imperial family at the Wayback Machine (archived October 27, 2009).[unreliable source?]
- ↑ Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. page 145.
- ↑ "Delicate Piety." Time Magazine, December 13, 1926. Retrieved on November 30, 2008.
- ↑ Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. Pages 270–271
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Large, Emperor Hirohito and Showa Japan, page 165.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Higashikuni Shigeko. |
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- Pages with broken file links
- Articles lacking reliable references from December 2008
- Use mdy dates from January 2013
- Articles containing Japanese-language text
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- Japanese princesses
- Higashikuni-no-miya
- 1925 births
- 1961 deaths
- Deaths from stomach cancer
- Deaths from cancer in Japan
- People from Tokyo
- Grand Cordons (Imperial Family) of the Order of the Precious Crown