:Emperor Taishō
{{Short description|Emperor of Japan from 1912 to 1926}}
{{Redirect|Yoshihito|3=Yoshihito (name)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Emperor Taishō
{{nobold|{{lang|ja|大正天皇}}}}
| image = Emperor Taishō (cropped).jpg
| alt = Emperor Yoshihito (Taishō) in a military uniform
| caption = Formal portrait, 1912
| birth_name = Yoshihito, Prince Haru
({{lang|ja|明宮嘉仁親王}})
| succession = Emperor of Japan
| reign = 29 July 1912 – {{nowrap|25 December 1926}}
| coronation = 10 November 1915
| cor-type = Japan
| predecessor = Meiji
| successor = Shōwa
| regent = Crown Prince Hirohito (1921{{nbnd}}1926)
| posthumous name = Tsuigō:
Emperor Taishō ({{lang|ja|大正天皇}})
| spouse = {{marriage|Sadako Kujō|10 May 1900}}
| issue = {{plainlist|
- Hirohito, Emperor Shōwa
- Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu
- Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu
- Takahito, Prince Mikasa
}}
| era name = Taishō
| era dates =
30 July 1912 – 25 December 1926
| royal house = Imperial House of Japan
| father = Emperor Meiji
| mother = Yanagiwara Naruko
| religion = Shinto
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1879|08|31}}
| birth_place = Tōgū Palace, Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1926|12|25|1879|08|31}}
| death_place = Imperial Villa, Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan
| burial_date = 8 February 1927
| burial_place = Musashi Imperial Graveyard, Hachiōji
| signature = 30px
}}
Yoshihito{{efn|{{nihongo2|嘉仁}}}} (31 August 1879 – 25 December 1926), posthumously honored as Emperor Taishō,{{efn|{{nihongo|大正天皇|Taishō-tennō}}}} was the 123rd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 1912 until his death in 1926. His reign, known as the Taishō era, was characterized by a liberal and democratic shift in domestic political power, known as Taishō Democracy. Yoshihito also oversaw Japan's participation in the First World War from 1914 to 1918, the Spanish flu pandemic, and the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923.
Born to Emperor Meiji and his concubine Yanagiwara Naruko, Yoshihito was proclaimed crown prince and heir apparent in 1888, his two older siblings having died in infancy. He suffered various health problems as a child, including meningitis soon after his birth. In 1900, he married Sadako Kujō, a member of the Kujō family of the Fujiwara clan; the couple had four sons. In 1912, Yoshihito became emperor upon the death of his father, but as he suffered from neurological issues for much of his life, he played only a limited role in politics and undertook no official duties from 1919. His declining health led to appointment of his eldest son, Crown Prince Hirohito, as regent in 1921, and Hirohito succeeded him as emperor when he died in 1926.
Early life
Prince Yoshihito was born at the Tōgū Palace in Akasaka, Tokyo to Emperor Meiji and Yanagiwara Naruko, a concubine with the official title of gon-no-tenji (imperial concubine). As was common practice at the time, Emperor Meiji's consort, Empress Shōken, was officially regarded as his mother. He received the personal name of Yoshihito Shinnō and the title Haru-no-miya from the Emperor on 6 September 1879. His two older siblings had died in infancy, and he too was born sickly.Keene, Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World. pp. 320–321.
Prince Yoshihito contracted cerebral meningitis within three weeks of his birth.Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. p. 22
As was the practice at the time, Prince Yoshihito was entrusted to the care of his great-grandfather, Marquess Nakayama Tadayasu, in whose house he lived from infancy until the age of seven. Prince Nakayama had also raised Taishō's father, the Emperor Meiji, as a child.Donald Calman, Nature and Origins of Japanese Imperialism (2013), [https://books.google.com/books?id=J0KvyZp9VKAC&pg=PA93 pp. 92–93]
From March 1885, Prince Yoshihito moved to the Aoyama Detached Palace, where he was tutored in the mornings on reading, writing, arithmetic, and morals, and in the afternoons on sports, but progress was slow due to his poor health and frequent fevers.Keene, Emperor of Japan:Meiji and His World. pp. 397–398. From 1886, he was taught together with 15–20 selected classmates from the ōke and higher ranking kazoku peerage at a special school, the Gogakumonsho, within the Aoyama Palace.
Yoshihito was officially declared heir on 31 August 1887, and had his formal investiture as crown prince on 3 November 1888. While crown prince, he was often referred to simply as {{Nihongo|Tōgu|東宮}} ('Eastern Palace', a metonymy for heir to the throne, which originated from China's Han dynasty).
File:Emperor Meiji Empress Shoken Prince Yoshihito Asukayama Park Sightseeing by Toyohara Chikanobu.png accompanied by ladies of the court. Colour woodblock print by Yōshū Chikanobu, 1890]]
= Education and training =
When Yoshihito became the age to enter elementary school in 1886, due to his health problems, Takehiko Yumoto was appointed as the special education officer to educate him within the Tōgū Palace.{{cite book|language=Ja |author=Takeshi Hara |title=大正天皇 |trans-title=Emperor Taishō |publisher=Asahi Shimbun Publications |page=49 |year=2015|origyear=2000|isbn=978-4-02-261827-6 }}
For these health reasons, he spent much of his youth at the Imperial villas at Hayama and Numazu, both of which are located at the sea. Although the prince showed skill in some areas, such as horse riding, he proved to be poor in areas requiring higher-level thought.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} He was finally withdrawn from Gakushuin before finishing the middle school course in 1894. However, he did appear to have an aptitude for languages and continued to receive extensive tutoring in French, Chinese, and history from private tutors at the Akasaka Palace;{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} Emperor Meiji gave Prince Takehito responsibility for taking care of Prince Yoshihito, and the two princes became friends.
From 1898, largely at the insistence of Itō Hirobumi, the Prince began to attend sessions of the House of Peers of the Diet of Japan as a way of learning about the political and military concerns of the country. In the same year, he gave his first official receptions to foreign diplomats, with whom he was able to shake hands and converse graciously.Keene, Emperor of Japan:Meiji and His World. p. 547. His infatuation with western culture and tendency to sprinkle French words into his conversations was a source of irritation for Emperor Meiji.Keene, Emperor of Japan:Meiji and His World. p. 552.
In October 1898, the Prince also traveled from the Numazu Imperial Villa to Kobe, Hiroshima, and Etajima, visiting sites connected with the Imperial Japanese Navy. He made another tour in 1899 to Kyūshū, visiting government offices, schools and factories (such as Yawata Iron and Steel in Fukuoka and the Mitsubishi shipyards in Nagasaki).Keene, Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World. p. 554.
Marriage
Image:Emperor Taisho's sons 1921.jpg, Takahito, Nobuhito and Yasuhito]]
On 10 May 1900, Crown Prince Yoshihito married the then 15-year-old Kujō Sadako, daughter of Prince Kujō Michitaka, the head of the five senior branches of the Fujiwara clan. She had been carefully selected by Emperor Meiji for her intelligence, articulation, and pleasant disposition and dignity – to complement Prince Yoshihito in the areas where he was lacking. The Akasaka Palace was constructed from 1899 to 1909 in a lavish European rococo style, to serve as the Crown Prince's official residence. The Prince and Princess had the following children: Hirohito, Yasuhito, Nobuhito, and Takahito.
In 1902, Yoshihito continued his tours to observe the customs and geography of Japan, this time of central Honshū, where he visited the Buddhist temple of Zenkō-ji in Nagano.Keene, Emperor of Japan:Meiji and His World. p. 581. With tensions rising between Japan and Russia, Yoshihito was promoted in 1903 to the rank of colonel in the Imperial Japanese Army and captain in the Imperial Japanese Navy. His military duties were only ceremonial, but he traveled to inspect military facilities in Wakayama, Ehime, Kagawa and Okayama that year.Keene, Emperor of Japan:Meiji and His World. p. 599.
In October 1907, the Crown Prince toured Korea, accompanied by Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō, General Katsura Tarō,{{Citation needed|date=January 2015}} and Prince Arisugawa Taruhito. It was the first time an heir apparent to the throne had ever left Japan.Keene, Emperor of Japan:Meiji and His World. p. 652. During this period, he began studying the Korean language, although he never became proficient at it.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}
= Issue =
Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei had four sons and twelve grandchildren (five grandsons and seven granddaughters).
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |
| rowspan="2" scope="col" | Name
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Birth ! rowspan="2" scope="col" |Death ! colspan="2" scope="col" | Marriage ! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Their children |
|---|
| scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Spouse |
| scope="row" | Hirohito, Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito, Prince Michi) |29 April 1901 |7 January 1989 |26 January 1924 |{{plainlist|
}} |
| scope="row" | Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu (Yasuhito, Prince Atsu) |25 June 1902 |4 January 1953 |28 September 1928 |{{n/a|none}} |
| scope="row" | Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu (Nobuhito, Prince Teru) |3 January 1905 |3 February 1987 |4 February 1930 |{{n/a|none}} |
| scope="row" | Takahito, Prince Mikasa (Takahito, Prince Sumi) |2 December 1915 |27 October 2016 |22 October 1941 |{{plainlist|
}} |
Reign
{{see also|Japan during World War I}}
File:Emperor Taisho Vintage Portrait 1912.png
On 29 July 1912, upon the death of his father, Emperor Meiji, Prince Yoshihito ascended the throne. The new emperor was kept out of view of the public as much as possible, having suffered from various neurological problems. At the 1913 opening of the Imperial Diet of Japan, one of the rare occasions he was seen in public, he is famously reported to have rolled his prepared speech into a cylinder and stared at the assembly through it, as if through a spyglass.See Asahi Shimbun, March 14, 2011, among many other reports. Although rumors attributed this to poor mental condition, others, including those who knew him well, believed that he may have been checking to make sure the speech was rolled up properly, as his manual dexterity was also handicapped.Nagataka Kuroda. "Higeki no Teiou – Taisho Tennou". Bungeishunjū, February 1959
His lack of articulation and charisma, his disabilities and his eccentricities, led to an increase in incidents of lèse majesté. As his condition deteriorated, he had less and less interest in daily political affairs, and the ability of the genrō, Keeper of the Privy Seal, and Imperial Household Minister to manipulate his decisions came to be a matter of common knowledge.Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. p. 129 The two-party political system that had been developing in Japan since the turn of the century came of age after World War I, giving rise to the nickname for the period, "Taishō Democracy", prompting a shift in political power to the Imperial Diet of Japan and the democratic parties.{{Citation | last = Hoffman | first = Michael | url = http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120729x1.html | title = The Taisho Era: When modernity ruled Japan's masses | newspaper = Japan Times | date = July 29, 2012 | page = 7 | access-date = December 1, 2017 | archive-date = November 2, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121102220151/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120729x1.html | url-status = dead }}
After 1918, the emperor no longer was able to attend Army or Navy maneuvers, appear at the graduation ceremonies of the military academies, perform the annual Shinto ritual ceremonies, or even attend the official opening of sessions of the Diet of Japan.Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. p. 53
After 1919, he undertook no official duties, and Crown Prince Hirohito was named prince regent (sesshō) on 25 November 1921.Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. p. 123
The emperor's reclusive life was unaffected by the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 and Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923. Fortuitously, he had moved by imperial train to Tamozawa Imperial Villa at Nikko the week before the devastating calamity; but his son, Crown Prince Hirohito, remained at the Imperial Palace where he was at the heart of the event.Hammer, Joshua. (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=6O8VyhDbUPgC&q=Yokohama+burning Yokohama Burning, p. 44.] Carrier pigeons kept the Emperor informed as information about the extent of the devastation became known.Hammer, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6O8VyhDbUPgC&q=Yokohama+burning p. 194]; citing [https://books.google.com/books?id=6O8VyhDbUPgC&q=Yokohama+burning "Carrier Pigeons Take News of Disaster: Wing Their Way from the Flaming City,"] Japan Times & Mail (Earthquake Edition). 6 September 1923, p. 1.
Death
File:Funeral-of-Emperor-Taisho-1926.png
In early December 1926, it was announced that the emperor had pneumonia. He died of a heart attack at 1:25 a.m. on 25 December 1926 at the Hayama Imperial Villa at Hayama, on Sagami Bay south of Tokyo (in Kanagawa Prefecture).Seidensticker, Edward. (1990). Tokyo Rising, p. 18. He was 47 years old and succeeded by his eldest son, Hirohito, Emperor Shōwa.
The funeral was held at night (February 7 to February 8, 1927) and consisted of a 4-mile-long procession in which 20,000 mourners followed a herd of sacred bulls and an ox-drawn cart containing the imperial coffin. The funeral route was lit with wood fires in iron lanterns. The emperor's coffin was then transported to his mausoleum in the western suburbs of Tokyo.Ronald E. Yates, World Leaders Bid Hirohito Farewell, Chicago T, February 24, 1989 [https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/02/24/world-leaders-bid-hirohito-farewell/ (online)], accessed 13 Oct 2015
Emperor Taishō has been called the first Tokyo Emperor because he was the first to live his entire life in or near Tokyo. His father was born and reared in Kyoto; and although he later lived and died in Tokyo, Emperor Meiji's mausoleum is located on the outskirts of Kyoto, near the tombs of his imperial forebears; but Emperor Taishō's grave is in Tokyo, in the Musashi Imperial Graveyard in Hachiōji.Seidensticker, p. 20. His wife and his son, the Emperor Shōwa, are buried near him.
Honours
= National honours =
- Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum, 3 November 1889;{{Cite web|url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/2945154|title = 官報. 1889年11月03日 - 国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション}} Collar, 10 May 1900{{Cite web|url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/2948347|title = 官報. 1900年05月10日 - 国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション}}
- Order of the Golden Kite, 3rd class, 1 April 1906{{Cite web|url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/2950396|title = 官報. 1906年12月30日 - 国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション}}
= Foreign honours =
- {{flag|Austria-Hungary}}: Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stephen, 18 July 1900{{cite book|author=刑部芳則|title=明治時代の勲章外交儀礼|url=http://meijiseitoku.org/pdf/f54-5.pdf|year=2017|publisher=明治聖徳記念学会紀要|language=ja|page=152}}
- {{flag|Belgium}}: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (military), July 1898{{citation|title=Almanach Royale Belgique|year=1899|chapter=Liste des Membres de l'Ordre de Léopold|language=French|page=72|location=Bruxelles|via=hathitrust.org}}
- {{Flag|Denmark}}: Knight of the Order of the Elephant, 9 October 1899{{cite book|author=Jørgen Pedersen|title=Riddere af Elefantordenen, 1559–2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=glw-AQAAIAAJ|year=2009|publisher=Syddansk Universitetsforlag|language=da|isbn=978-87-7674-434-2|page=466}}
- {{flagcountry|French Third Republic}}: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, 3 May 1899
- {{Flag|German Empire}}: Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, 21 December 1899
- {{Flag|Kingdom of Bavaria}}: Knight of the Order of St. Hubert, 16 March 1904
- {{Flagicon|Greece|royal}} Kingdom of Greece:
- Grand Cross of the Order of George I
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer
- {{Flag|Kingdom of Italy}}:
- Knight of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, 22 March 1900{{cite book|author=Italy. Ministero dell'interno|title=Calendario generale del regno d'Italia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KU1TIJPtKx0C&pg=PR3|year=1920|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KU1TIJPtKx0C&pg=PA57 57]}}
- Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, 22 March 1900
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy, 22 March 1900
- {{flag|Korean Empire}}: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Golden Ruler, 20 September 1900
- {{flag|Netherlands}}: Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, 12 July 1900
- {{Flag|Norway}}: Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav, with Collar, 26 September 1922{{citation|title=Norges Statskalender for Aaret 1926|language=Norwegian|year=1926|pages=993–994|chapter-url=https://runeberg.org/norkal/1926/0557.html|chapter=Den kongelige norske Sanct Olavs Orden|location=Oslo|publisher=Forlagt av H. Aschehoug & Co. (w. Nygaard)|via=runeberg.org}}
- {{Flag|Poland}}: Knight of the Order of the White Eagle
- {{flag|Kingdom of Portugal}}: Grand Cross of the Sash of the Two Orders, April 1904
- {{flag|Russian Empire}}: Knight of the Order of St. Andrew, 2 July 1900
- {{Flagicon|Thailand|1855}} Siam: Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri, 26 October 1899{{cite journal |author=Royal Thai Government Gazette |author-link=Royal Thai Government Gazette |date=9 December 1900 |url=http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2443/037/527_1.PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508133306/http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2443/037/527_1.PDF |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 8, 2019 |title=ข้อความในใบบอกพระยาฤทธิรงค์รณเฉท อรรคราชทูตสยามกรุงญี่ปุ่น เรื่อง พระราชทานเครื่องราชอิศริยาภรณ์ มหาจักรีบรมราชวงษ์แก่มกุฎราชกุมาร กรุงญี่ปุ่น|language=th |access-date=2019-05-08 }}
- {{Flag|Spain|1874}}: Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, 17 May 1896{{cite book|chapter-url=http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0001003698&search=&lang=es|chapter=Caballeros de la insigne orden del toisón de oro|title=Guía Oficial de España|date=1911|access-date=21 March 2019|page=160|language=es}}
- {{Flag|Sweden}}: Knight of the Order of the Seraphim, 20 September 1907{{citation|title=Sveriges Statskalender|year=1909|page=613|url=https://runeberg.org/rikskal/1909/0697.html|via=runeberg.org|access-date=2018-01-06|language=sv}}
- {{Flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}: Stranger Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter, 18 September 1912{{cite web |url=https://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/garterlist.htm |title=List of the Knights of the Garter=François Velde, Heraldica.org |access-date=February 22, 2019}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
See also
{{Portal|Japan|Monarchy|Biography}}
References
= Citations =
{{Reflist|2}}
= Sources =
- Hammer, Joshua. (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=6O8VyhDbUPgC&q=Yokohama+burning Yokohama Burning: the Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II.] New York: Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|978-0-7432-6465-5}} (cloth)
- Seidensticker, Edward. (1990). Tokyo Rising. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. {{ISBN|978-0-394-54360-4}} (cloth) [reprinted by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1991: {{ISBN|978-0-674-89461-7}} (paper)]
- Bix, Herbert P. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. Harper Perennial (2001). {{ISBN|0-06-093130-2}}
- Fujitani, T. Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan. University of California Press; Reprint edition (1998). {{ISBN|0-520-21371-8}}
- Keene, Donald. Emperor Of Japan: Meiji And His World, 1852–1912. Columbia University Press (2005). {{ISBN|0-231-12341-8}}
External links
- {{PM20|FID=pe/017377}}
{{Commons category|Emperor Taishō}}
{{S-start}}
{{s-hou|Imperial House of Japan|31 August|1879|25 December|1926}}
{{s-reg}}
{{S-bef|before=Emperor Meiji
(Mutsuhito)}}
{{s-ttl|title=Emperor of Japan|years=30 July 1912 – 25 December 1926}}
{{s-aft|after=Emperor Shōwa
(Hirohito)}}
{{S-end}}
{{Emperors of Japan}}
{{Japanese princes}}
{{JapanEmpireNavbox}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Taisho}}
Category:Children of Emperor Meiji
Category:Japanese military personnel
Category:19th-century Shintoists
Category:20th-century Shintoists
Category:People from Minato, Tokyo
Category:19th-century Japanese people
Category:20th-century Japanese monarchs
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Category:Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class
Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers
Category:Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite
Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary
Category:Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Category:Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)