Yi Bangja ( ko, 이방자, 4 November 1901 – 30 April 1989) was Queen of the Korean Empire as the wife of King Euimin of Korea.

Birth

Born Princess Masako of Nashimoto ( ja, 方子女王), she was the first daughter of Japanese imperial family member Prince Nashimoto Morimasa, the seventh son of Prince Kuni Asahiko and his wife, Princess Itsuko, a daughter of

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

Naohiro Nabeshima. She was a first cousin of Empress Kōjun of Japan. On maternal side, she was also a first cousin of

Princess Setsuko was a member of the Japanese Imperial Family and the wife of Prince Chichibu, the second son of Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei. Setsuko was a sister-in-law of Emperor Shōwa and an aunt-in-law of the Emperor Akihito. Early life Setsuko ...

Marriage

Princess Masako was a leading candidate to wed the crown prince of Japan, the future Emperor Hirohito. Other candidates included Princess Nagako of Kuni (who became the future Empress Kōjun), and Tokiko Ichijō, a daughter of Prince Ichijō Saneteru. The possibility of infertility and the feeble political influence of her family were among the reasons she was removed from the list of candidates. However, Princess Masako was selected instead to wed Crown Prince Euimin of Korea who had been held by Japanese government under the pretense of studying abroad in 1917. The wedding was held on 28 April 1920, at the Korean royal residence in Tokyo. Princess Masako was still a student at the Girls' Department of the Gakushūin Peers' School at the time; her new title became ''

Her Royal Highness Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Monarchs and their consorts are usually styled ''Majesty''. When used as a direct form of address, spoken or written, it takes ...

Crown Princess of King Yi'' ( ja, 李王世子妃). In addition, the title she received from birth, Princess Masako, still retained after she married. Despite an unfavorable fertility diagnosis prior to her marriage, she gave birth to a son, Prince Jin, on 18 August 1921. However, Prince Jin died under suspicious circumstances when she visited Korea with her husband on 11 May 1922. On 24 April 1926, Princess Masako received the formal title ''Her Royal Highness Princess Masako, Queen Yi'' ( ja, 李王妃方子女王) when the Emperor Sunjong, the elder brother of Crown Prince Euimin, died. Under the terms of the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, the Korean royal title was demoted from that of "Emperor" to "King" and Crown Prince Euimin was never formally crowned as the monarch of Korea; therefore, Princess Masako would later be addressed as "Bangja, Crown Princess Euimin" in Korea. On 29 December 1931, she gave birth to a second son, Yi Ku.

Life as last Crown Princess of Korea

After the end of World War II, all former royal and peerage titles were abolished by the American occupation authorities; ever since, Princess Masako took the Korean name Yi Bangja. Republic of Korea President Rhee Syng-man's fear of Crown Prince Euimin's popularity prevented the family's homecoming, and they lived in destitution as Korean residents in Japan. In November 1963, Yi Bangja and her family came back to Korea at the invitation of President

Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...

and were allowed to live in Changdeok Palace in downtown Seoul. However, by this time, Crown Prince Euimin was already unconscious from

cerebral thrombosis A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of c ...

and was rushed to Seoul Sungmo Hospital where he remained bedridden for the rest of his life. Thereafter, Yi Bangja devoted herself to the education of mentally and physically disabled people. She successively became the chairman of various committees including the ''Commemorative Committee of Crown Prince Euimin'', and the ''Myeonghwi-won'', an asylum for deaf-and-dumb persons or patients suffering from infantile paralysis and she founded the ''Jahye School'' and the ''Myeonghye School'', which helps disabled people become socially adapted. She was adored as the "mother of the handicapped in Korea" and despite lingering

anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea Anti-Japanese sentiment; , ''Banil gamjeong'' in Korean society has its roots in historic, cultural, and nationalistic sentiments. The first recorded anti-Japanese attitudes in Korea were effects of the Japanese pirate raids and the later 15 ...

she was a widely respected Japanese woman in Korea. Some members of the Nashimoto family, her relatives, visited Seoul in October 2008 to pay their respects. The Nashimotos have continued supporting her charity foundations for helping Korean physically challenged people even after the Princess died in 1989.영친왕비 이방자 여사 종친 방한
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Death

Yi Bangja died on 30 April 1989, aged 89, at the Nakseon Hall, Changdeok Palace from cancer. Her funeral was held as a semi-

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

which Prince Mikasa and Princess Mikasa of Japan attended and she was buried beside her husband, Crown Prince Euimin, at the Hongyureung, Namyangju near Seoul.

Other

She wrote an autobiography, ''The World is One: Princess Yi Bangja's Autobiography''.

Children

# Prince Yi Jin () (18 August 1921 – 11 May 1922). He was poisoned during a visit to Korea with his parents. His funeral was held on 17 May 1922 and he was buried in Korea. # Prince Yi Gu () (29 December 1931 – 16 July 2005). Prince Gu became the 29th Head of the Korean Imperial Household upon the death of his father.

Ancestry

Popular culture

Yi Bangja was portrayed by Naho Toda in the 2016 film '' The Last Princess''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yi, Bangja 1901 births 1989 deaths Japanese princesses Nashimoto-no-miya House of Yi Korea under Japanese rule Japan–Korea relations South Korean people of Japanese descent Grand Cordons of the Order of the Precious Crown People from Tokyo