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Emperor Taishō KG (August 31, 1879 – December 25, 1926) was the
123rd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, reigning
from July 30, 1912, until his death in 1926.
His personal name was Yoshihito. Like all other Japanese Emperors, he is known
since his death by a posthumous name that, according to a practice dating back to
1912, is the name of the era coinciding with his reign.
Having ruled during the Taishō era (Great Righteousness), he is now
known as Emperor Taishō. Although he is sometimes referred to as Yoshihito or
Emperor Yoshihito outside Japan, Japanese emperors are referred to in Japan only by
their posthumous names. The situation is similar to Popes assuming new names upon
taking office, but additionally the use of a Japanese emperor's personal name can
be considered overly familiar, or almost derogatory.
 Early
life
Prince Yoshihito was born at the Aoyama Palace in Tokyo to Emperor Meiji and
Yanagiwara Naruko, a lady-in-waiting. As was common practice at the time, Emperor
Meiji's consort, Empress Shōken, was officially regarded as his mother. He received
the personal name of Yoshihito Shinno and the title Haru-no-miya from Emperor Meiji
on September 6, 1879.
Prince Yoshihito contracted meningitis within three weeks of his birth, leaving him
in poor health both physically and mentally. (It has also been rumored that he
suffered from lead poisoning, supposedly contracted from the powder makeup his
wetnurse used.) Despite this, after his four older brothers suffered early deaths,
he was officially declared heir apparent on August 31, 1887, and had his formal
investiture as crown prince on November 3, 1888.
As was the practice at the time, Yoshihito was entrusted to the care of Prince
Nakayama Tadayasu , in whose house he lived until the age of seven. Tutors taught
the prince and selected classmates at a special school, the Gogakumonsho, within
the Aoyama Detached Palace. In September 1887 the prince entered the elementary
department of the Gakushuin, but due to his health problems he was often unable to
continue his studies. He spent much of his youth by the sea in Atami for health
reasons. Although the prince showed skill in some areas, such as horse riding, he
proved to be poor in areas requiring higher-level thought. He was finally withdrawn
from Gakushuin before finishing the middle school course in 1894. However, he did
appear to have an aptitude for languages and continued to receive extensive
tutoring in French, Chinese, and history from private tutors at the Akasaka Palace;
Emperor Meiji gave Prince Takehito responsibility for taking care of Prince
Yoshihito, and the two princes became friends.
On May 10, 1900, Crown Prince Yoshihito married the then 15-year-old Sadako Kujō
(the future Empress Teimei), the daughter of Prince Kujō Michitaka, the head of the
five senior branches of the Fujiwara clan, and had issue:
The future Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito), (April 29, 1901 – January 7, 1989); married
Princess Nagako (March 6, 1903 – June 16, 2000), eldest daughter of Prince Kuni
Kuniyoshi; and had issue.
Prince Chichibu (Yasuhito), (May 26, 1902 – January 4, 1953); married September 28,
1928, Miss Matsudaira Setsuko (September 9, 1909 – August 25, 1995), eldest
daughter of Mr. Matsudaira Tsuneo, sometime Japanese ambassador to Britain and the
United States, and imperial household minister; no issue.
Prince Takamatsu (Nobuhito), (March 1, 1905 – February 3, 1987); married February
4, 1930, Tokugawa Kikuko (December 26, 1911 – December 18, 2004), second daughter
of Prince Tokugawa Yoshihisa ; no issue.
Prince Mikasa (Takahito), (born December 2, 1915); married October 22, 1941, Yuriko
(born June 6, 1923), second daughter of Viscount Takagi Masanori.
The marriage is said to have improved his physical health, and shortly afterward he
embarked upon a tour of Japan, one of the first times in history that Japanese
commoners were able to come in direct contact with the heir to the throne.
In 1906, the Crown Prince commissioned an extensive renovation of his official
residence, the Akasaka Detached Palace (currently Japan's State Guesthouse) in a
lavish European rococo style.
In October 1907, the Crown Prince toured Korea, accompanied by Admiral Togo
Heihachiro, General Katsura Taro, and Prince Arisugawa Taruhito. It was the first
time the heir apparent to the throne had ever left Japan. He began studying the
Korean language shortly afterwards, although he never became proficient at it.
As
Emperor
On July 30, 1912, upon the death of his father, Emperor Meiji, Prince Yoshihito
succeeded him on the throne. The Meiji era ended at once and a new era was
immediately proclaimed: the Taishō era. According to Japanese customs, the Emperor
has no name during his reign and is only called the (present) Emperor. Like his
father, the name of the era coinciding with his reign would later be his posthumous
name.
The new emperor was kept out of view of the public as much as possible. He suffered
from various neurological problems throughout his life and by the late 1910s, these
maladies made it all but impossible for him to carry out public functions. On one
of the rare occasions he was seen in public, the 1913 opening of the Diet, he is
famously reported to have rolled his prepared speech into a telescope and stared at
the assembly through it. Although this is often cited as an example of his poor
mental condition, others believe he may have been checking to make sure the speech
was rolled up properly, as his manual dexterity was also handicapped.
As a result of his disabilities and eccentricities, Taisho became known as Baka
Tenno (The Mad Emperor) or simply "the Mad."
World War I occurred during the reign of Emperor Taishō, and as a result of the
war, the Japanese empire expanded to include Germany's former colonies in the
central Pacific (the Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands and Palau), as well as the
German military port of Qingdao on Shandong peninsula on the Chinese mainland.
Japan was recognized as one of the great powers in the new post-war world order,
and became a founding member of the League of Nations.
After 1919, he undertook no official duties, and Crown Prince Hirohito (who would
succeed him as Emperor Shōwa) was named sesshō (prince regent) on November 25,
1921.
He died of a heart attack at 1:25 AM on December 25, 1926, at the imperial palace
at Hayama, in Kanagawa Prefecture
Honors
Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum, Order of the Rising Sun, Order of the Precious
Crown (Japan)
Kt. Order of the Black Eagle (Prussia)
Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (Italy)
Order of the Elephant (Denmark)
Order of Saint Hubert (Bavaria)
Order of the Golden Fleece (Spain)
Knights Grand Cross of The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav (Norway)
Knight of the Garter and honourary field marshal (Great Britain)
Source : Some of the information on
this page came from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the GNU
Documentation License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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Emperor
Yoshihito (Taishō) - Projector -
Biography
