This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Keivan.f (talk | contribs) at 11:52, 13 September 2012. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 11:52, 13 September 2012 by Keivan.f (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Princess Teru| Princess Shigeko 照宮成子内親王 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princess Teru | |||||
 Princess Teru-no-miya Shigeko in 1941 | |||||
| Born | (1925-12-06)December 6, 1925 Tokyo, Japan | ||||
| Died | July 23, 1961(1961-07-23) (aged 35) Tokyo, Japan | ||||
| Burial | Toshimagaoka royal cemetery, Bunkyō, Tokyo | ||||
| Spouse | Prince Higashikuni Morihiro (m.1943-1961) | ||||
| Issue | Prince Nobuhiko of Higashikuni Princess Fumiko of Higashikuni Higashikuni Naohiko Higashikuni Hidehiko Higashikuni Yuko | ||||
| |||||
| House | Imperial House of Japan | ||||
| Father | Emperor Shōwa | ||||
| Mother | Princess Nagako of Kuni | ||||
Shigeko Higashikuni (東久邇成子, Higashikuni Shigeko, 6 December 1925 – 23 July 1961), formerly Princess Teru (照宮成子内親王, Teru-no-miya Shigeko Naishinnō), was the wife of Prince Higashikuni Morihiro and eldest daughter of Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun. As such, she was the elder sister to the present Emperor of Japan, Emperor Akihito.
Biography
Princess Shigeko was born in Tokyo while her father was still Prince Regent. 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. 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.
In 1941, she was formally engaged to the eldest son and heir of Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko, Prince Higashikuni Morihiro. The bride and groom were first cousins once removed. 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 authorities. 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 July 23, 1961. Her grave is at the Toshimagaoka royal cemetery, in Bunkyō, Tokyo.
Family
Prince and Princess Higashikuni had five children, the last three of whom were born after they were reduced in status to commoners:
- Prince Higashikuni Nobuhiko (東久邇宮 信彦王, Higashikuni-no-miya Nobuhiko ō) (born March 10, 1945); married 1973 Miss Shimada Yoshiko, with one son, Higashikuni Yukihiko (b.1974)
- Princess Higashikuni Fumiko (文子女王, Fumiko joō, born December 23, 1946); married Mr. Omura Kazutoshi.
- Higashikuni Hidehiko (東久邇 秀彦, born June 30, 1949): adopted by the Mibu family as "Mibu Motohiro"
- Higashikuni Naohiko (東久邇 真彦, born 1953); married to Ms. Sato Kazuko, with two sons, Teruhiko and Mutsuhiko
- Higashikuni Yuko (東久邇 優子, born 1954)
Titles and styles
| Styles of Shigeko, Princess Teru (before her marriage) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 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
National honours
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown
Ancestry
| Family of Shigeko Higashikuni | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gallery
-
Emperor Shōwa's daughters
-
Emperor Shōwa's family (December 7, 1941)
References
- ^ Deceased and former members of the Imperial family.
- 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
- Shirato, Sadao (July 2011). 銚子電気鉄道（下）. Japan: Neko Publishing Co., Ltd. p. 16. ISBN 978-4-7770-5310-0.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - Large, Emperor Hirohito and Showa Japan, page 165.
- "東久邇宮家". nekhet. Retrieved October 14, 2011.Template:Ja icon
- Bix, Herbert B (2001). Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-06-093130-2.
- Large, Stephen S (1992). Emperor Hirohito and Shōwa Japan: A Political Biography. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-03203-2.
External links
| Japanese princesses | ||
|---|---|---|
| The generations indicate descent from Emperor Meiji, who founded the Empire of Japan. | ||
| 1st generation |
|  |
| 2nd generation | None | |
| 3rd generation | ||
| 4th generation | ||
| 5th generation | ||
| * Reduced to commoner status with the abolition of titles of nobility by the American occupation authorities. ** Lost the title upon her marriage. | ||