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Empress Teimei

The native form of this personal name is Kujō Sadako. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Empress Teimei
貞明皇后
Formal portrait, 1912
Empress consort of Japan
Tenure30 July 1912 –
25 December 1926
Enthronement10 November 1915
Empress dowager of Japan
Tenure25 December 1926 –
17 May 1951
BornSadako Kujō (九条節子)
(1884-06-25)25 June 1884
Nishikichō, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Died17 May 1951(1951-05-17) (aged 66)
Ōmiya Palace, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Burial22 June 1951
Musashi Imperial Graveyard
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1900; died 1926)​
Issue
HouseFujiwara clan (by birth)
Imperial House of Japan (by marriage)
FatherKujō Michitaka
MotherIkuko Noma (concubine)
ReligionShinto and Nichiren Shōshū

Sadako Kujō (九条節子, Kujō Sadako, 25 June 1884 – 17 May 1951), posthumously honoured as Empress Teimei (貞明皇后, Teimei-kōgō), was the wife of Emperor Taishō and the mother of Emperor Shōwa of Japan. Her posthumous name, Teimei, means "enlightened constancy".

Biography

Sadako Kujō was born on 25 June 1884 in Tokyo, as the fourth daughter of Duke Michitaka Kujō, head of Kujō branch of the Fujiwara clan. Her mother was Ikuko Noma (Concubinage).[1]

She married then-Crown Prince Yoshihito (the future Emperor Taishō) on 10 May 1900, at the age of 15. The couple lived in the newly constructed Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, outside of the main Tokyo Imperial Palace complex. When she gave birth to a son, Hirohito, Prince Michi (the future Emperor Shōwa) in 1901, she was the first official wife of a Crown Prince or Emperor to have given birth to the official heir to the throne since 1750.

She became empress consort (皇后, Kōgō) when her husband ascended to the throne on 30 July 1912 following death of her father-in-law, Emperor Meiji. Given her husband's weak physical and mental condition, she exerted a strong influence on imperial life, and was an active patron of Japanese Red Cross Society. The relations between the Emperor and Empress of Taishō period were very good, as evidenced by Emperor Taishō's lack of interest in taking concubines, thus breaking with hundreds of years of imperial tradition, and by her giving birth to four sons.

After the death of Emperor Taishō on 25 December 1926, her title became that of Dowager Empress (皇太后, Kōtaigō) (which means "widow of the former emperor"). She openly objected to Japan's involvement in World War II, which might have caused conflict with her eldest son, Emperor Hirohito. From 1943, she also worked behind the scenes with her third son Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu to bring about the downfall of Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō.

She was a Buddhist adherent who had faith in Nichiren Shoshu and prayed with the Shinto ritual ceremonies of the Tokyo Imperial Palace.

She died on 17 May 1951 at Omiya Palace in Tokyo, aged 66, and was buried near her husband, Emperor Taishō, in the Tama no higashi no misasagi (多摩東陵) at the Musashi Imperial Graveyard in Tokyo.[2]

Honours

National

Foreign

Issue

Name Birth Death Marriage Their children
Date Spouse
Hirohito, Emperor Shōwa
(Hirohito, Prince Michi) 		29 April 1901 7 January 1989 26 January 1924 Princess Nagako of Kuni
Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu
(Yasuhito, Prince Atsu) 		25 June 1902 4 January 1953 28 September 1928 Setsuko Matsudaira none
Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu
(Nobuhito, Prince Teru) 		3 January 1905 3 February 1987 4 February 1930 Kikuko Tokugawa none
Takahito, Prince Mikasa
(Takahito, Prince Sumi) 		2 December 1915 27 October 2016 22 October 1941 Yuriko Takagi

Ancestry

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Detail | Old Japanese Photographs in Bakumatsu-Meiji Period".
  2. ^ "The Mad Monarchist: Consort Profile: Empress Teimei of Japan". November 2010.
  3. ^ "Genealogy". Reichsarchiv (in Japanese). Retrieved 5 September 2017.

References

Empress Teimei
Born: 25 June 1884 Died: 17 May 1951
Japanese royalty
Preceded by Empress consort of Japan
1912–1926 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Empress dowager of Japan
1926–1951 		Succeeded by
Quelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Teimei