Sachiko, Princess Hisa

{{Infobox royalty

| name = Sachiko

| image = Princess Sachiko.jpg

| image_size = 130px

| caption = Princess Sachiko in January 1928

| title = Princess Hisa

| house = Imperial House of Japan

| father = Emperor Shōwa

| mother = Princess Nagako Kuni

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1927|9|10}}

| birth_place = Tokyo Imperial Palace, Tokyo City, Empire of Japan

| death_date = {{death date|df=y|1928|3|8}} (aged {{age for infant|1927|9|10|1928|3|8}})

| death_place = Tokyo Imperial Palace, Tokyo City, Empire of Japan

| burial_date = 13 March 1928

| burial_place = {{ill|Toshimagaoka Imperial Cemetery|ja|豊島岡墓地}}, Bunkyo, Tokyo

}}

{{nihongo|Sachiko, Princess Hisa|久宮祐子内親王|Hisa-no-miya Sachiko Naishinnō|extra=10 September 1927{{spaced ndash}}8 March 1928}} was the second daughter and child of Emperor Shōwa and his wife, Empress Kōjun. Her personal name was Sachiko, and her title was Hisa-no-miya. Princess Shigeko was her older sister; her younger siblings were born after her death.

Sachiko died in 1928 of pneumonia, aged 5 months and 27 days.{{cite magazine |year=1928 |title=JAPAN: Hisa |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,786744,00.html |url-status=live |magazine=Time Magazine |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211030213954/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,786744,00.html |archive-date=30 October 2021 |access-date=30 October 2021 }}

Birth

Princess Sachiko Hisanomiya was born on September 10, 1927, at 4:42 a.m., at Akasaka Palace, as the second child and second princess of Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun.1927 Imperial Household Ministry Notification No. 15 (September 10, 1927) She was 50.8 cm tall and weighed 3300 grams.{{Cite news |date=1928-03-08 |title=お傷わしき御一生御誕生より御７ケ月目桃の節句も御むなしく |language=Japanese |trans-title=Your life is painful. Seven months after your birth. The peach festival is also in vain. |work=Asahi Shimbun}}

On September 16, after the bathing ceremony at 9 am, she was named "Hisa-no-miya" and "Sachiko" at the naming ceremony at 11 am.1927 Imperial Household Ministry Notification No. 17 (September 16, 1927) This title and her name were chosen by her father from three candidates. The origin is "ekikyō" (易経). She used the same character as Emperor Gosuzaku's third princess, the first princess's name was Ryōko (sharing the second character) and she also used the same character as her mother, Empress Kōjun. Her protective sword was made by Teiichi Tsukiyama. On December 17 of that same year, she had her first outing when Empress Kōjun visited the Imperial Palace of Emperor Taishō with her older sister, then Imperial Princess Teru-no-miya Shigeko, on the occasion of paying respects.{{Note|At the time, Emperor Showa's family lived in the Akasaka Imperial Palace.}}{{Cite news |date=1927-12-17 |title=きょう久宮様はじめて宮城へ |language=Japanese |trans-title=Today Hisa-no-miya's first trip to Miyagi |work=Asahi Shimbun}}

Illness and death

She was breast-fed by her mother and was growing well, and on March 3, 1928, was planning on attending her first festival on a grand scale. Her parents prepared 30 kinds of hina sweets, and gifts were prepared from the Kuninomiya family, the family house of Empress Kōjun, and from the princesses of Emperor Meiji who became consorts of the Imperial Palace.{{Cite news |date=1928-02-25 |title=お喜び一入深き久宮様初のお節句両陛下にも両内親王殿下に、ひな３０種を御買上 |language=Japanese |work=Asahi Shimbun}} The princesses were Princess Masako Takeda, Fusako Kitashirakawa, Princess Nobuko Asaka, and Toshiko Higashikuni, who would be considered "great aunts" of Sachiko.

On the morning of February 27, she suddenly developed a high fever.Official Gazette extra addition "Imperial Court Record" (March 8, 1928) The symptoms of eczema that had been present in the past worsened, swelling of the right submandibular lymph gland was also observed, and a diagnosis of pharyngeal catarrh was made.{{Cite news |date=1928-03-02 |title=久宮内親王御不例咽頭カタルと拝診さる |language=Japanese |trans-title=Imperial Princess Hisa-no-miya was diagnosed with pharyngeal catarrh |work=Asahi Shimbun}} The New Year's holiday celebration was postponed, and the Empress and court physicians took care of her. On March 1, when the onset of the illness was announced, doctors said that "it was not enough to worry about".

However, at 9 pm on March 4, her temperature rose again to around 39 °C, she was in critical condition, and sepsis was suspected.{{Cite news |date=1928-03-06 |title=久宮祐子内親王殿下御重態に陥らせらる |language=Japanese |trans-title=Her Imperial Highness Princess Yuko Hisa-no-miya falls into critical condition |work=Asahi Shimbun}} The empress and her ladies-in-waiting stayed up all night to nurse her. At the same time, her father had a fever, but this was due to a cold. By the afternoon of the 5th, her physical condition seemed to have recovered, but after the morning of the 6th, the high fever continued again. The events planned for the Empress's birthday on that day were cancelled, and her maternal grandparents, who were staying at Atami, were requested to return to Tokyo by midnight.

At 4 pm on the 7th, she was diagnosed with a complication of sepsis. At 3:30 am on the following day, she became critically ill, and at 3:38 am she died in Akasaka Palace.1928 Notification of the Ministry of the Imperial Household (March 8, 1928) (NDLJP:2956817/18) She was 5 months and 27 days old.

Later, entertainment broadcasts and Army Memorial Day events were voluntarily suspended. Article 17 of the Imperial Funeral Ordinance did not apply to Sachiko who was under the age of seven, so a simple funeral was held on March 13, and she was buried in Toshimagaoka Cemetery.1928 Imperial Household Ministry Notification (Kanpo No. 357, March 9, 1928) (NDLJP:2956818/3)Official Gazette No. 261 "Imperial Court Record" (March 14, 1928) (NDLJP:2956822/5) The chief mourner was Yahachi Kawai, the Empress's domestic administration.Official Gazette No. 358 "Imperial Court Notice" (March 10, 1928) On March 19, the Emperor and Empress, accompanied by Sachiko's older sister, Shigeko, visited the Toshimagaoka Cemetery and paid their respects at Sachiko's grave.{{Cite book |title=今上陛下聖徳余影 |publisher=聖徳余影発行所 |year=1928 |location=Japan |pages=113–114 |language=ja}}

Empress Kōjun said that, out of grief, she held a doll of the same weight for a while afterwards. The empress also gave a grant to Keifukukai (now the Social Welfare Corporation Imperial Gift Foundation, Keifuku Childcare Association) and the organization established the "Late Princess Sachiko Hisa-no-miya Commemorative Child Protection Fund" which created facilities throughout the country and also overseas for the protection of infants.{{Cite book |title=事業概要昭和5年度 |publisher=慶福会 |year=1930 |editor-last=慶福会 |location=Japan |pages=56 |language=ja}}