General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

was the founder 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 general in the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

during the

Japanese invasion of China The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Thea ...

and the

Second World War 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 ...

. Son-in-law 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 ...

and uncle by marriage 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 ...

, Prince Asaka was commander of Japanese forces in the final assault on

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, then the capital city of Nationalist China, in December 1937. Japanese forces under his command committed the

Nanjing massacre The Nanjing Massacre (, ja, 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu) or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the Ba ...

. After the war, General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

granted immunity to members of the Imperial family. As a result, Asaka was never tried for his involvement in the Nanking Massacre by

SCAP SCAP may refer to: * S.C.A.P., an early French manufacturer of cars and engines * Security Content Automation Protocol * ''The Shackled City Adventure Path'', a role-playing game * SREBP cleavage activating protein * Supervisory Capital Assessment ...

authorities. Asaka and his children lost their imperial status in 1947. Afterwards, he converted to Catholicism and died of natural causes at the age of 93.

Biography

Early years

Prince Yasuhiko came from

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

, the eighth son of

Prince Kuni Asahiko was a member of a collateral line of the Japanese imperial family who played a key role in the Meiji Restoration. Prince Asahiko was an adopted son of Emperor Ninkō and later a close advisor to Emperor Kōmei and Emperor Meiji. He was the grea ...

and the court lady Tsunoda Sugako. Prince Kuni Asahiko was the youngest prince descended from the

Fushimi-no-miya The is the oldest of the four shinnōke, branches of the Imperial Family of Japan which were eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in the event that the main line should die out. The Fushimi-no-miya was founded by Prince Yoshihito, th ...

, one of the four branch houses of the imperial dynasty ''(

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 h ...

)'' entitled to provide a successor to the throne. In 1872, the Emperor Meiji granted him the title

Kuni-no-miya The (princely house) was the second oldest collateral branch (''ōke'') of the Japanese Imperial Family created from the Fushimi-no-miya, the oldest of the four branches of the imperial dynasty allowed to provide a successor to the Chrysanthemu ...

and authorization to begin a new collateral branch of the imperial family. Prince Yasuhiko was a half-brother of

Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko 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 Hi ...

Prince Nashimoto Morimasa was a member of the Japanese Imperial Family and a ''field marshal'' in the Imperial Japanese Army. An uncle-in-law of Emperor Shōwa, an uncle of his consort, Empress Kōjun, and the father-in-law of Crown Prince Euimin of Korea, Prince Nashim ...

Prince Kaya Kuninori (1 September 1867 – 8 December 1909) was a member of the Japanese imperial family and the founder of one of the nine ''ōke'' (or princely houses) in the Meiji period. Early life The prince was born in Kyoto, as the second of the nine son ...

, and

Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi was a member of the Japanese imperial family and a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Meiji and Taishō periods. He was the father of Empress Kōjun (who in turn was the consort of the Emperor Shōwa), and therefore, the mate ...

, the father of the future

Empress Kōjun , born , was a member of the Imperial House of Japan, the wife of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) and the mother of Shigeko Higashikuni, Princess Sachiko Hisa-nomiya, Kazuko Takatsukasa, Atsuko Ikeda, the Emperor Emeritus Akihito, Prince Masahito ...

, the consort of

Emperor Shōwa 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 ...

(Hirohito).

Marriage and family

On 10 March 1906, the Emperor Meiji granted Prince Yasuhiko the title

Asaka-no-miya The Asaka (朝香) ''ōke'' (princely house) was the eighth oldest branch of the Japanese Imperial Family created from branches of the Fushimi-no-miya house. Asaka-no-miya The Asaka-no-miya house was formed by Prince Yasuhiko, eighth son of Pr ...

and authorization to begin a new branch of the imperial family. On 6 May 1909, Prince Asaka married Nobuko, Princess Fumi (7 August 1891 – 3 November 1933), the eighth daughter of Emperor Meiji. Prince and Princess Asaka had four children: # ; married in 1931 Marquis Nabeshima Naoyasu. # ; married Todo Chikako, the fifth daughter of Count Todo Takatsugu. They had two daughters, Fukuko and Minoko and a son Tomohiko. # , renounced membership in the imperial family and created Marquis Otowa, 1936. Killed in action during the

Battle of Kwajalein The Battle of Kwajalein was fought as part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. It took place from 31 January – 3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Employing the hard-learned lessons of the Battle of Tarawa, the Un ...

. # ; married Count Ogyu Yoshiatsu.

Military career

Like the other imperial princes of the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, it was expected that Prince Yasuhiko would pursue a career in the military. He received his early education at the

Gakushūin The or Peers School (Gakushūin School Corporation), initially known as Gakushūjo, is a Japanese educational institution in Tokyo, originally established to educate the children of Japan's nobility. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002)"Gakushū-i ...

Peers' School and the Central Military Preparatory School, before graduating from 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 ...

on 27 May 1908. Commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry on 25 December, Prince Asaka was promoted to lieutenant in December 1910, captain in August 1913, major in July 1918, and lieutenant-colonel in August 1922. Colonel Prince Asaka 1920s

Between 1920 and 1923, Prince Asaka 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 half-brother

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 his cousin

Prince Naruhisa Kitashirakawa , 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 hous ...

(1887–1923). However, on 1 April 1923, he was seriously injured in an automobile accident 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.Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

) that killed Prince Kitashirakawa; the accident left Prince Asaka with a limp for the rest of his life. Princess Asaka traveled to France to nurse her husband. Prince and Princess Asaka also visited the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1925. During that period, Prince and Princess Asaka became enthralled with the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

movement. Upon returning to Japan that same year, The Prince and Princess began arranging for a new mansion to be built in the Art Deco style in Tokyo's

Shirokanedai is a highly affluent district of Minato, Tokyo. The district today is made up of 5 ''chome''. As of November 1, 2007, the population of Shirokanedai is 10,001. The former neighborhood of Shirokanedai (Shirokanedaimachi, 白金台町) consisted o ...

neighborhood. The house, currently the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, was completed in May 1933, but Princess Asaka died a few months later. While these events were occurring, Prince Asaka had risen through the ranks of the military. After being promoted to 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 ...

in August 1925, in December 1929, he rose to the rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

and was subsequently appointed an instructor at 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 ...

in 1930. On 1 August 1933, he was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

and assumed command of the First Imperial Guards Division. In December 1935, he was appointed a member of the

Supreme War Council The Supreme War Council was a central command based in Versailles that coordinated the military strategy of the principal Allies of World War I: Britain, France, Italy, the US and Japan. It was founded in 1917 after the Russian revolution and w ...

, which gave him a very influential position with Emperor Hirohito. However, during the abortive February 26 Incident in 1936, Prince Asaka pressed the Emperor to appoint a new government that would be acceptable to the rebels, especially by replacing

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Keisuke Okada was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, politician and Prime Minister of Japan from 1934 to 1936. Biography Early life Okada was born on 20 January 1868, in Fukui Prefecture, the son of a samurai of the Fukui Domain. He attended the 15th ...

with

Kōki Hirota was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1936 to 1937. Originally his name was . He was executed for war crimes committed during the Second Sino-Japanese War at the Tokyo Trials. Early life Hirota was ...

. The Prince's pro-

Imperial Way Faction The ''Kōdōha'' or was a political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army active in the 1920s and 1930s. The ''Kōdōha'' sought to establish a military government that promoted totalitarian, militaristic and aggressive expansionistic ideals, ...

political sentiments, as well as his connections to other right-wing army cliques, caused a rift between himself and the Emperor. It was perhaps due to this rift that Prince Asaka was transferred to the

Japanese Central China Area Army Field armies of Japan, C Military units and formations established in 1937 Military units and formations disestablished in 1938 Nanjing Massacre perpetrators ...

(under the aging General

Iwane Matsui was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and the commander of the expeditionary force sent to China in 1937. He was convicted of war crimes and executed by the Allies for his involvement in the Nanjing Massacre. Born in Nagoya, Matsui chose ...

) in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in 1937.

Role in the Nanking Massacre

Memorial Ceremony Hasegawa Matsui Asaka Yanagawa Nanking 18-Dec-1937

In November 1937, Prince Asaka became temporary commander of the Japanese forces outside Nanking (now

), then capital of

, because General Matsui was ill. As temporary commander of the final assault on Nanking between 2 and 6 December 1937, he issued the order to "kill all captives", thus providing official sanction for what became known as the "

Nanking Massacre The Nanjing Massacre (, ja, 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu) or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the Ba ...

" or the "Rape of Nanking" (12 December 1937 – 10 February 1938).Chen, World War II Database While Prince Asaka's responsibility for the

remains a matter of debate, the sanction for the massacre and the crimes committed during the invasion of China might ultimately be found in the ratification, made on 5 August 1937 by Emperor

, of the proposition of the Japanese army to remove the constraints of

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

on the treatment of Chinese prisoners. In February 1938, both Prince Asaka and General Matsui were recalled to Japan. Matsui went into virtual retirement, but Prince Asaka remained on the Supreme War Council until the end of the war in August 1945. He was promoted to the rank of

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

in August 1939 but held no further military commands. In 1944, he colluded with Prince Higashikuni, his nephew

Prince Takamatsu was the third son of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako) and a younger brother of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). He became heir to the Takamatsu-no-miya (formerly Arisugawa-no-miya), one of the four ''shinnōke'' or branches of ...

, and former Prime Minister

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 ...

(1895–1945) to oust the

Hideki Tojo Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assistan ...

cabinet.

Immunity from prosecution

Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) to the Japanese government, aiming to suppress its "milita ...

(SCAP) officials interrogated Prince Asaka about his involvement in the Nanking Massacre on 1 May 1946, but did not bring him before the

International Military Tribunal for the Far East The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial or the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on April 29, 1946 to try leaders of the Empire of Japan for crimes against peace, conven ...

for prosecution. Indeed, for politico-strategic and geopolitical reasons, General

decided to support the Imperial family and to grant immunity to all its members. Matsui, on the other hand, was tried, convicted, and executed for failing to prevent the massacre.

Postwar life as a commoner

On 14 October 1947, Asaka Yasuhiko and his children lost their imperial status and privileges and became ordinary citizens, as part of the American Occupation's abolition of the collateral branches 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 ...

. He and his son were

purge In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another organization, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertak ...

d from holding any political or public office because they had been officers in the Imperial Japanese Army. His

mansion in

was seized by the government and now houses the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. The former prince, Asaka Yasuhiko, moved to

Atami is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 36,865 in 21,593 households and a population density of 600 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Atami is located in the far ea ...

, on the

Izu Peninsula The is a large mountainous peninsula with a deeply indented coastline to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific coast of the island of Honshu, Japan. Formerly known as Izu Province, Izu peninsula is now a part of Shizuoka Prefecture. The peninsul ...

south of Tokyo. Asaka converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

on 18 December 1951, and he was the first Imperial clansman to do so. He spent most of his time playing

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. He also took an active interest in

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

development and in the 1950s was the architect of the Plateau Golf Course at the Dai-

Hakone is a town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had a population of 11,293 and a population density of 122 persons per km². The total area of the town is . The town is a popular tourist destination due to its many hot springs and views of ...

Country Club. Asaka Yasuhiko died of natural causes on 12 April 1981 at his home in

Atami, Shizuoka is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 36,865 in 21,593 households and a population density of 600 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Atami is located in the far ea ...

prefecture. He was 93 years old.

Honours

* Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Chrysanthemum is Japan's highest order. The Grand Cordon of the Order was established in 1876 by Emperor Meiji of Japan; the Collar of the Order was added on 4 January 1888. Unlike its European counterparts, the order may be conferred posthumously. Apart f ...

(31 October 1917) *

Order of the Golden Kite The was an order of the Empire of Japan, established on 12 February 1890 by Emperor Meiji "in commemoration of Jimmu Tennō, the Romulus of Japan". It was officially abolished 1947 by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) during th ...

, 1st Class (4 April 1942)

Foreign honours

* : Grand Cordon Order of Leopold (29 April 1925)Royal Decree of 1925/-Mémorial du centenaire de l'Ordre de Léopold. 1832–1932. Bruxelles, J. Rozez, 1933.

Gallery

Image:HIH Asaka Nobuko.jpg, Princess Asaka Nobuko, consort Image:HIH Princess Asaka Kikuko.jpg, Princess Asaka Kikuko, eldest daughter Image:HIH Prince Asaka Takahiko.jpg, Prince Asaka Takahiko, son and heir Image:HIH Princess Asaka Kiyoko.jpg, Princess Asaka Kiyoko, younger daughter

References

Books

* * *

External links

Profile of Asaka

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Asaka Yasuhiko, Prince 1887 births 1981 deaths People from Kyoto Japanese princes Asaka-no-miya École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite Japanese generals Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II Imperial Japanese Army personnel of World War II Japanese Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Shinto Nanjing Massacre perpetrators