, formerly was an

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 ...

officer who was a member of a

cadet line In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets—realm, titles, ...

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 husband 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 ...

's eldest daughter.

Early life

The eldest son and heir of

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 ...

, Prince Morihiro had the distinction of being a grandson 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 simultaneously both a first cousin and a son-in-law of Emperor Hirohito. He was born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, and like most male members of the imperial family during the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

, was groomed to pursue a career in the military from an early age.

Military career

After graduation from the Gakushuin Peers’ School and the Central Military Preparatory School, Prince Higashikuni served for a session in the House of Peers. He graduated from the 49th class of

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 ...

in June 1937, and was commissioned as a second

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the early 20t ...

in August. The following March, he was promoted to lieutenant in the IJA First Artillery Regiment, and was stationed in

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...

. During the

Nomonhan Incident The Battles of Khalkhin Gol (russian: Бои на Халхин-Голе; mn, Халхын голын байлдаан) were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolia, Jap ...

in summer 1939, he commanded the First Battery, 1st Heavy Field Artillery Regiment of the

Kwantung Army ''Kantō-gun'' , image = Kwantung Army Headquarters.JPG , image_size = 300px , caption = Kwantung Army headquarters in Hsinking, Manchukuo , dates = April ...

. He withdrew in face of the Soviet counter-offensive without orders during the heat of battle, and was transferred back to Japan on 2 August 1939. The incident was suppressed by Japanese military censors, but provided much

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

for the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. Despite this apparent blot on his service record, he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the artillery in March 1941. He attended the Army War College from December 1942 to December 1943, and on graduation was promoted to major and placed on the reserve list.

Marriage and family

On 10 October 1943, Prince Higashikuni married seventeen-year-old Princess Shigeko (9 December 1925 – 23 July 1961), the eldest daughter 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 ...

and

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 ...

, who was widely known by her childhood appellation ''Teru-no-miya''. The bride and groom were related several times over through their common descent from Emperor Meiji and

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 ...

(the father of Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni and the grandfather of Empress Kōjun). The couple had five children, the last three of whom were born after the Higashikuni family was removed from the Imperial Household register: #; married Miss Yoshiko Shimada in 1973, and had two sons, Masahiko Higashikuni (b. 1973) and unknown boy (b. 2014). # ; married Mr. Kazutoshi Omura later to Mr. Takagi Daikichi. # : adopted by the

Mibu 270px, Mibu Toy Museum is a town located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 39,158 in 16,149 households, and a population density of 640 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Mibu is l ...

family as "Motohiro Mibu" # ; married to Ms. Kazuko Sato, with two sons, Teruhiko and Mutsuhiko # married Mr. Azuma Naooki. His first wife, former Princess Shigeko, died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in July 1961. In 1964, Morihiro Higashikuni married Miss Yoshiko Terao. The second marriage produced two children: # #

Later life

In October 1947, the Higashikuni and other branches of the Japanese Imperial Family were divested of their titles and privileges during the

American occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

and became commoners. As a commoner, he attempted several unsuccessful business ventures before eventually becoming the chief of the research division of the Hokkaido Mining and Steamship Company. He died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

St. Luke's International Hospital is a general and teaching hospital located in the Tsukiji district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. First opened in 1902, as a medical mission facility by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church in the United States, the hospital is now on ...

in Tokyo in 1969.

Ancestry

Gallery

Image:Higashikunomiya Morihiko.jpg, Prince Morihiro in the Philippines during World War II

References

* Coox, Alvin D. ''Nomonhan: Japan Against Russia, 1939''. Stanford University Press; Reprint edition (1990). * Dower, John W. ''Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II''. W. W. Norton & Company (2000).

External links

The former Higashikuni summer villa in Yokohama (Japanese site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higashikuni Morihiro 1917 births 1969 deaths Higashikuni-no-miya Japanese princes Heirs apparent who never acceded People from Tokyo Imperial Japanese Army personnel of World War II Children of prime ministers of Japan Deaths from lung cancer in Japan Imperial Japanese Army officers Members of the Kwantung Army Military personnel of the Second Sino-Japanese War