, also known as the "Kumazawa emperor", was a Japanese businessman and Buddhist priest from

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

who publicly disputed the legitimacy of Emperor Hirohito's bloodline in the period shortly after the end of 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 opposi ...

. He claimed to be the 19th direct descendant of

Emperor Go-Kameyama (c. 1347 – May 10, 1424) was the 99th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He ruled from 1383 to October 21, 1392, becoming the last Emperor of the Southern Court. His personal name was . This 14th century sove ...

. In 1946–1947, Hiromichi was only the first of roughly nineteen men who put themselves forward as Japan's rightful Emperor. As a direct descendant of the Southern Court emperors of the

Nanboku-chō period The Nanboku-chō period (南北朝時代, ''Nanboku-chō jidai'', "North and South court period", also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period), spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the formative years of the Mur ...

, he argued that Emperor Hirohito was illegitimate. He pointed out that Hirohito's entire line is descended from the

Northern Court The , also known as the Ashikaga Pretenders or Northern Pretenders, were a set of six pretenders to the throne of Japan during the Nanboku-chō period from 1336 through 1392. The present Imperial House of Japan is descended from the Northern Cou ...

emperors. He produced a

koseki A or family register is a Japanese family registry. Japanese law requires all Japanese households (basically defined as married couples and their unmarried children) to make notifications of their vital records (such as births, adoptions, dea ...

detailing his bloodline back to

Emperor Go-Daigo Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 ''Go-Daigo-tennō'') (26 November 1288 – 19 September 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後醍醐天皇 (96) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order ...

Yoshino Yoshino may refer to: * Yoshino cherry, another name for ''Prunus × yedoensis'', a flowering cherry tree * Japanese cruiser Yoshino, Japanese cruiser ''Yoshino'', a protected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy Places * Yoshino, Nara, a town ...

, but his claims and rhetoric failed to inspire anything other than sympathy. Hiromichi's claims ultimately remained unsubstantiated.Maga, Timothy P. (2000)
''Judgment at Tokyo: the Japanese War Crime Trials''
pp. 40-41.

Notes

References

Bix Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer. Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical app ...

, Herbert P. (2000). ''Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan.'' New York:

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

. ; *

Dower Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settled on the bride (being gifted into trust) by agreement at the time of the wedding, or as provided by law. ...

, John W. (1999). '' Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II.'' New York: W. W. Norton. ; * Lauterbach, Richard E
"The True Emperor of Japan,"
''Life'' (January 21, 1946). Vol. 20, No. 3, p. 33. * Maga, Timothy P. (2000). ''Judgment at Tokyo : the Japanese War Crime Trials.'' Lexington, Kentucky:

University Press of Kentucky The University Press of Kentucky (UPK) is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 194 ...

. ; Occupied Japan 1889 births 1966 deaths Pretenders People from Aichi Prefecture {{Japan-bio-stub