- Princess Takamatsu
Princess Takamatsu (
Kikuko ) of Japan, (jp : 宣仁親王妃喜久子, "Nobuhito Shinnō-hi Kikuko") (26 December 1911 –18 December 2004 ), known informally as "Princess Kikuko", was a member of the Japanese imperial family. The princess was the widow of Prince Takamatsu (Nobuhito), the third son of theEmperor Taishō and theEmpress Teimei . She was, therefore, a sister-in-law of the Shōwa Emperor and an aunt of the present emperor, HIMAkihito . She was mainly known for philanthropic activities, particular her patronage of cancer research organizations. At the time of her death, Princess Takamatsu was the oldest member of the imperial family.Early life
The future princess was born in Tokyo on the
26 December 1911 , as Tokugawa Kikuko. She was the second daughter ofPrince Tokugawa Yoshihisa (2 September 1884 -22 January 1922 ) (peer) and his wife Miyeko (14 February 1891 -25 April 1933 ). Her paternal grandfather wasTokugawa Yoshinobu , Japan's lastshogun . Her maternal grandfather, Prince Arisugawa (Takehito), was the seventh head of theArisugawa-no-miya , one of the four shinnōke or collateral branches of the imperial family during theEdo period entitled to provide a successor to the throne in default of a direct heir. Lady Tokugawa Kikuko received her primary and secondary education at the then-girls' department of theGakushuin . At age eighteen, she became engaged to Prince Takamastu, who was then third in line to theChrysanthemum throne .Marriage
On
4 February 1930 , she married Prince Takamatsu at the Kokyo Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The couple had no children. Shortly after the wedding, Prince and Princess Takamatsu embarked upon a world tour, partly to result the courtesies shown to by KingGeorge V of the United Kingdom in sending a mission to Tokyo to present Emperor Shōwa with theOrder of the Garter . The Prince and Princess returned to Japan in June 1931 and took up residence inTakanawa inMinato, Tokyo . A photo of them on the Chichibu Maru which left San Francisco on May 28, 1931 can be seen at http://www.cpprovince.org/archives/gallery/mysteryphotos/japanese-ship.html.Following her mother's death from
bowel cancer in 1933, Princess Takamatsu became champion of cancer research. Using money donated by the public, she established thePrincess Takamatsu Cancer Research Fund in 1968, organizing symposia and awarding scientists for groundbreaking work. She also served as president of an organization extending relief toHansen's disease patients. The Princess also served as the honorary president of the "Saiseikai" Imperial Gift Foundation Inc.,Tofu Kyokai Foundation ,Shadan Houjin Tokyo Jikeikai ,Nichifutsu Kyokai , andNichifutsu Kaikan , and as an honorary vice-president of theJapan Red Cross Society .Unconventional frankness
In 1991, Princess Takamatsu and an aide discovered a twenty-volume diary, written in Prince Takamatsu's own hand between 1934 and 1947. Despite opposition from the
Imperial Household Agency , she gave the diary to the magazine "Chūōkōron " which published excerpts in 1995. The diary revealed that Prince Takamatsu had opposed theKwantung Army 's incursions inManchuria in September 1931 and the expansion of the July 1937Marco Polo Bridge Incident into a full-scale war againstChina .After the death of her sister-in-law,
Empress Kōjun , in 2000, Princess Takamatsu became the oldest member of the Imperial Family. In 2002, after Crown Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako had a daughter, the ninety-year-old princess was the first member of the Imperial Family to publicly call for changes to the 1947Imperial Household Law , which limits the succession to theChrysanthemum throne to legitimate males in the male line of descent. In an article she wrote for a women's magazine, she argued that having a female tennō was "not unnatural" since women had assumed the throne in the past, most recently in the eighteenth century.Princess Takamatsu died of blood poisoning at
St. Luke's Medical Center in Tokyo on18 December 2004 . She had been in an out of the hospital with various ailments during the last decade of her life. Her funeral was held on26 December atToshimagaoka cemetery in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward.External links
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1746886.stm BBC News | Princess backs Japan succession change]
* [http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1640152,00.html News24.com Japanese Princess buried]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.