Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, was a member of a collateral branch of the

Japanese imperial family The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...

and a career officer in the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

who was killed in the line of duty in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Biography

Born as , the 4th son of

Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu was a scion of the Japanese imperial family and was a career naval officer who served as chief of staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1932 to 1941. Early life Prince Hiroyasu was born in Tokyo as Prince Narukata, the eldest son of Prin ...

, he was the younger brother of

Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi was the eldest son of Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu, and heir-apparent due to inherit the position of 24th head of the Fushimi-no-miya shinnōke (collateral branch of the Imperial Family of Japan), and a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy. ...

Prince Kachō Hirotada of Japan, was a member of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family. Biography Prince Hirotada was the second son of Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu. His mother was Tokugawa Tsuneko, the 9th daughter of the last Tokugawa Shōgun, Tokugawa ...

and Marquis

Kachō Hironobu , was a descendant of the Fushimi-no-miya collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family. Biography Born as Prince Fushimi Hironobu, the third son of Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu with Tokugawa Tsuneko (1882–1939), he was also the younger broth ...

. In October 1932, he served as a member of the House of Peers in the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

. On 1 April 1936, by order of Emperor

Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

, he was allowed to establish his own household after renouncing his imperial title, and was created a count (''hakushaku'') under the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ' ...

'' peerage system. The same year, he married Toyoko Yanagisawa (29 October 1917 – 14 November 1939), younger daughter of Count Yanagisawa Yasutsugu, with whom he had three daughters. After the death of his wife, he remarried in 1942 to Sadako Kuroda (born 1 June 1915), only daughter of Baron Kuroda Nagatoshi, with whom he had another daughter. A graduate of the 62nd class of the

Imperial Japanese Naval Academy The was a school established to train line officers for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was originally located in Nagasaki, moved to Yokohama in 1866, and was relocated to Tsukiji, Tokyo in 1869. It moved to Etajima, Hiroshima in 1888. Students stu ...

, Fushimi Hirohide opted to pursue a military career, and rose to the rank of

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

. During World War II, on 21 August 1943 while serving with the IJN 3rd Combined Communications Brigade, he was killed in action when his aircraft was shot down over the

Gulf of Boni __NOTOC__ The Gulf of Boni ( id, Teluk Bone), also known as the Gulf of Bone, Bay of Boni, and Bone Bay, is the gulf which divides the South and Southeast Peninsulas of the island of Sulawesi (Celebes) in Indonesia. It opens on the south into the ...

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

in the

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. His grave is located at

Aoyama Cemetery is a cemetery in Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The cemetery is also famous for its cherry blossoms, and at the season of hanami, which many people would visit. History The cemetery was origin ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Descendants

# (by Toyoko) Fushimi Mōtoko, born 11 August 1937; married Dōmoto Taizō. # (by Toyoko) Fushimi Kazuko, born 1 December 1938; entered holy orders and assumed the name Seikan, 1952; head of Tokujōmyōin, Kyoto; styled Abbess Fushimi Seikan. # (by Toyoko) Fushimi Junko; died in infancy. # (by Sadako) Fushimi Yoshiko, born 7 June 1943; married Ino Kazou (born 1 January 1941), who assumed the surname of Fushimi upon marriage, eldest son of Ino Noburo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fushimi, Hirohide 1912 births 1943 deaths Kazoku Fushimi-no-miya Imperial Japanese Navy officers Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Japanese military personnel killed in World War II Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Indonesia Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents