Duke , son of Hiromichi, was a Japanese nobleman and politician 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 ...

(1868–1912) who served as a member of House of Peers in the Diet of Japan. Takatsukasa Nobuhiro was his brother, and Toshimichi was his son. A keen ornithologist he went by the nickname of “Bird Prince” (Kotori no koshaku). Takatsukasa graduated in zoology from the Imperial University of Tokyo (1914) where he studied under Isao Ijima and received a doctorate in 1943. He was a specialist on birds and published several papers and books on the birds of Japan, collaborating with other Japanese ornithologists including Y. Yamashina and M. U. Hachisuka. He also worked with Oliver L. Austin Jr. (1903-1988). He was also a keen aviculturist. He presided over the Ornithological Society of Japan from 1922 to 1946. His books included Kaidori (1917), Kaidori Shusei (1930) and Japanese Birds (1941). In 1944 he became high priest for the Meiji Shrine and was involved in the "Great Zoo Massacre" of 1943 at the Ueno zoological gardens. He presided over the "Memorial Service for Martyred Animals" following the killing of the animals. His son Toshimichi married

Kazuko Takatsukasa , formerly , was the third daughter of Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun. She was an elder sister to the former Emperor of Japan, Emperor Akihito. She married Toshimichi Takatsukasa on 21 May 1950. As a result, she gave up her imperial title and ...

, daughter 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 ...

References

1889 births 1959 deaths Fujiwara clan Takatsukasa family Japanese ornithologists {{japan-noble-stub