, was the 3rd head 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 ...

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 shinnōke, branches of the Imperial Family of Japa ...

after the death of his father in November 1895 during the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...

. He was the brother of Prince Tsunehisa Takeda and classmate of Prince Yasuhiko Asaka,

Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni General was a Japanese imperial prince, a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 30th Prime Minister of Japan from 17 August 1945 to 9 October 1945, a period of 54 days. An uncle-in-law of Emperor Hirohito twice over, Prince H ...

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 The was the principal officer's training school for the Imperial Japanese Army. The programme consisted of a junior course for graduates of local army cadet schools and for those who had completed four years of middle school, and a senior course f ...

with a commission as a sub-lieutenant in 1904, and the 27th class of the

Army Staff College Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For exa ...

with the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

. His field of study was

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

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 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, along with his cousins

and Prince Yasuhiko Asaka. However, on 1 April 1923, he was killed in

Perriers-la-Campagne Perriers-la-Campagne () is a former commune in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Nassandres sur Risle.Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Imperial Family by the American occupation authorities. The former princess served as custodian and chief priestess of the

Ise Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and . The Inner ...

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