was the eldest son of

Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu was a scion of the Japanese imperial family and was a career naval officer who served as chief of staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1932 to 1941. Early life Prince Hiroyasu was born in Tokyo as Prince Narukata, the eldest son of Prin ...

, and heir-apparent due to inherit the position of 24th head of 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, t ...

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 ...

(collateral branch of the Imperial Family of Japan), and a career officer in the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrend ...

Early life

Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi was the eldest son and heir of Admiral of the Fleet

and his wife, the former Tokugawa Tsuneko. He graduated from the 45th class of the

Imperial Japanese Naval Academy The was a school established to train line officers for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was originally located in Nagasaki, moved to Yokohama in 1866, and was relocated to Tsukiji, Tokyo in 1869. It moved to Etajima, Hiroshima in 1888. Students st ...

in 1917, ranked first in a class of 89 cadets. His classmates included Kosaku Ariga, final captain of the battleship ''Yamato''.

Military career

Prince Fushimi served his midshipman tour on the cruiser ''Iwate'', and as a sub-lieutenant on the battleships ''Fusō'' and ''Kawachi''. After completing coursework in

naval artillery Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for shore bombardment and anti-aircraft roles. The term generally refers to tube-launched projectile-firing weapons and exclude ...

and

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

warfare, he served as a crewman on ''Kongō'', ''Hyūga'', ''Kirishima'' and ''Hiei''. After completing advanced training in torpedo warfare, he was assigned as Chief Torpedo officer on the destroyers ''Shimakaze'', ''Numakaze'', and cruisers ''Izumo'' and ''Naka''. On 10th December 1928, he received his first command, the destroyer Kaba. He was subsequently captain of the destroyers ''Yomogi'', ''Kamikaze'', and ''Amagiri''. In 1933, the Prince was promoted to commander and became executive officer on the cruiser ''Naka'', followed by the

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing control ...

''Itsukushima''. In 1936, Prince Fushimi became commander of the 3rd Destroyer Group, which was involved in combat in the

Battle of Shanghai The Battle of Shanghai () was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) of the Empire of Japan The also ...

between Japanese and Chinese Nationalist forces during the opening stages of the

Second Sino-Japanese War 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 Th ...

. On 25th September 1937, he was slightly injured in the Huangpu River during a bombardment operation. After recovery, he served as commander of the 6th Destroyer Group, assigned to patrols in the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

of China. In April 1938, he was assigned back to Japan, where he became the instructor of a

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associ ...

. On 19th October 1938, Prince Fushimi, who suffered from chronic asthma, died of

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may ...

. It is said that the cause of his death was an unsuitable medicine which was injected by his doctor. His military rank was posthumously raised to captain.

Marriage and family

On 23rd December 1919, Prince Fushimi married , the third daughter of Prince Saneteru Ichijō, by whom he had four children: # # # #

Gallery

Image:HIH Fushimi Tokiko.jpg, HIH Princess Fushimi Tokiko, consort

Ancestry

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).
Nishida, Imperial Japanese Navy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fushimi Hiroyoshi, Prince Japanese princes Heirs apparent who never acceded Fushimi-no-miya 1897 births 1938 deaths People from Tokyo Japanese military personnel of World War II Imperial Japanese Navy officers