Kenichi Momoyama

Yi Geon
Spouse	Matsudaira Yoshiko Maeda Yoshiko
Father	Prince Imperial Ui
Mother	Lady Jeong
Born	28 October 1909(1909-10-28)
Died	21 December 1990(1990-12-21) (aged 81)

Yi Geon (Ri Ken, Kenichi Momoyama)
Born	28 October 1909 Seoul, Great Korean Empire
Died	21 December 1991 Yono, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1930 - 1945
Rank	Colonel
Commands held	Instructor of Horsemanship at the Imperial Military Academy
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Grand Cordon of the Order of the Auspicious Stars Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure Showa Enthronement Medal (1928) Tokyo Earthquake Rehabilitation Medal (1930) Japanese Red Cross Order of Merit
Other work	Small business owner, farm manager, German-language translator

Colonel Yi Geon, known by his Japanese names Ri Ken and Kenichi Momoyama (桃山 虔一, Momoyama Ken'ichi^?, October 28, 1909 – December 21, 1991) was a cavalry officer in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War. The first son of Prince Ui of Korea by Lady Jeong, he was a grandson of Emperor Gwangmu.^[1] His Korean name was Yi Geon (이건 李键 I Geon), and his birth name was Yonggil (용길 Yonggil).

He was brought to Japan in 1918, and entered Gakushūin Primary School.^[2]

In 1930, he was commissioned in the Imperial Japanese Army as a second lieutenant of cavalry. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1932 and to Captain in 1936. He served as the instructor of horsemanship at the Imperial Military Academy. He received further promotions to Major in 1940, and to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1943. With the end of the Second World War in 1945, he concluded his military career with the rank of Colonel.

He married Yoshiko Matsudaira (松平 佳子, Matsudaira Yoshiko^?, 6 October 1911 - 28 June 2006), a maternal cousin of Crown Princess Bangja, on October 5, 1931, in Tokyo.

After World War II, he was not allowed to go back to Korea. After he lost royal status by order of the SCAP in October 1947, he naturalized as a Japanese citizen in 1950. Then he changed his name to Kenichi Momoyama. When he met his future second wife Yoshiko Maeda (前田美子, Maeda Yoshiko^?) in 1951, he divorced his first wife. In 1991 he died, Prince Mikasa attended his funeral.

Now his son Momoyama Kouya is working at Kaisei Academy's high school as assistant principal in Tokyo.

References

1. ^ 황세손 이구·이방자 여사 참배 chosun.com
2. ^ 일본에 인질로 간 의천왕의 두 아들 arirang21.com

Persondata
Name	Momoyama, Kenichi
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	28 October 1909
Place of birth
Date of death	21 December 1990
Place of death