The was the youngest of the four

shinnōke was the collective name for the four cadet branches of the Imperial family of Japan, which were until 1947 entitled to provide a successor to the Chrysanthemum throne if the main line failed to produce an heir. The heads of these royal houses ...

, branches of the

Imperial Family of Japan 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 ...

which were eligible to succeed to the

Chrysanthemum Throne The is the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term also can refer to very specific seating, such as the throne in the Shishin-den at Kyoto Imperial Palace. Various other thrones or seats that are used by the Emperor during official functions ...

in the event that the main line should die out. It was founded by Prince Naohito, the son of Emperor Higashiyama. Fearing extinction of the Imperial Line, Arai Hakuseki proposed that a new branch of the Imperial Family be created. In 1718, retired emperor Reigen bestowed upon his grandson the title of Kan'in-no-miya and land worth 1000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

. '' This was the first new shinnōke formed since the

Arisugawa-no-miya The was one of the shinnōke, branches of the Imperial Family of Japan which were, until 1947, eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in the event that the main line should die out. History The Arisugawa-no-miya house was founded by Pr ...

lineage in 1625. The name Kan'in-no-miya is thought to have come from the title of Prince Sadamoto, a son of the Heian-era Emperor Seiwa. Arai Hakusei's wisdom was soon proved with the second Kan'in-no-miya, Sukehito shinnō. When

Emperor Go-Momozono was the 118th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 後桃園天皇 (118)/ref>Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 120. He was named after his ...

died, he had only a single daughter. Sukehito's son was chosen to become Emperor Kōkaku. The Kan'in House became extinct upon the death of its 5th head, Prince Kan'in Naruhito, in 1842, but was revived by

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 ...

, who assigned the name to Prince Kotohito, 16th son of Prince Fushimi Kuniie (one of the other ''shinnoke'' houses). The line became extinct again with the death of his son, Kan'in Sumihito (formerly Kan'in-no-miya Haruhito shinnō) in 1988.

References

* Keane, Donald. ''Emperor Of Japan: Meiji And His World, 1852-1912''. Columbia University Press (2005). * Lebra, Sugiyama Takie. ''Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility''. University of California Press (1995). {{ISBN, 0-520-07602-8 Japanese nobility