, was the 3rd head of a
collateral branch of the
Japanese Imperial Family.
Early life
Prince Naruhisa was the son of
Prince Yoshihisa Kitashirakawa and Princess Tomiko.
[Takenobu, Yoshitaro. (1906). ] Prince Naruhisa succeeded as head of the house of
Kitashirakawa-no-miya
The Kitashirakawa (北白川) ''ōke'' (princely house) was the fifth oldest branch of the Japanese Imperial Family created from branches of the Fushimi-no-miya
The is the oldest of the four shinnĹŤke, branches of the Imperial Family of Japa ...
after the death of his father in November 1895 during the
First Sino-Japanese War. He was the brother of
Prince Tsunehisa Takeda
was the founder of the Takeda-no-miya collateral branch of the Japanese Imperial Family.
Biography
Prince Tsunehisa Takeda was the eldest son of Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa and thus the brother of Prince Kitashirakawa Naruhisa. He was bor ...
and classmate of
Prince Yasuhiko Asaka
General was the founder of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family and a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese invasion of China and the Second World War. Son-in-law of Emperor Meiji and uncle by marriage of Em ...
,
Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni and Prince
Fumimaro Konoe
Prince was a Japanese politician and prime minister. During his tenure, he presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and the breakdown in relations with the United States, which ultimately culminated in Japan's entry into World W ...
(peer). Prince Naruhisa graduated from the 20th class of the
Imperial Japanese Army Academy with a commission as a sub-lieutenant in 1904, and the 27th class of the
Army Staff College with the rank of
colonel. His field of study was
artillery.
Marriage and family
On 29 April 1909, Prince Kitashirakawa married
Fusako, Princess Kane (1890–1974), the seventh daughter of
Emperor Meiji
, also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...
. Prince and Princess Kitashirakawa had one son and three daughters:
# Married Sachiko Tokugawa
# ; Married Viscount Tanekatsu Tachibana
# ; Married Viscount Motofumi Higashizono
# ; Married Yoshihisa Tokugawa.
Later life
Between 1922 and 1923, Prince Naruhisa studied
military tactics
Military tactics encompasses the art of organizing and employing fighting forces on or near the battlefield. They involve the application of four battlefield functions which are closely related – kinetic or firepower, Mobility (military), mobil ...
at the
École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr
The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the "Special Military School of Saint-Cyr") is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto is ...
in
France, along with his cousins
Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni and
Prince Yasuhiko Asaka
General was the founder of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family and a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese invasion of China and the Second World War. Son-in-law of Emperor Meiji and uncle by marriage of Em ...
. However, on 1 April 1923, he was killed in
Perriers-la-Campagne, a Paris suburb, in an automobile accident that seriously injured Princess Kitashirakawa (who had accompanied her husband to Paris), and which left Prince Asaka with a limp for the rest of his life.
Dowager Princess Kitashirakawa became a commoner on 14 October 1947, with the abolition of the collateral branches of the
Japanese Imperial Family by the
American occupation authorities. The former princess served as custodian and chief priestess of the
Ise Shrine until her death on 11 August 1974.
Gallery
File:HIH Kitashirakawa Fusako.jpg, Princess Fusako
File:HIH Kitashirakawa Nagahisa.jpg, Prince Nagahisa
File:HIH Kitashirakawa Mineko and Sawako.jpg, Princesses Mineko and Sawako
File:HIH Kitashirakawa Mineko.jpg, Princess Mineko
File:HIH Kitashirakawa Sawako.jpg, Princess Sawako
Notes
References
* Fujitani,T. ''Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan''. University of California Press; Reprint edition (1998).
* Lebra, Sugiyama Takie. ''Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility''. University of California Press (1995).
* Takenobu, Yoshitaro. (1906). ''The Japan Year Book.'' Tokyo: Japan Year Book Office
OCLC 1771764
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitashirakawa Naruhisa, Prince
1887 births
1923 deaths
École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni
Kitashirakawa-no-miya
Japanese princes
Japanese Army officers
People from Tokyo
People of Meiji-period Japan
Road incident deaths in France