Kachō Hironobu

of Japan, was a descendent of the Fushimi-no-miya collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family.

Born as Fushimi Hironobu, the third son of Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu, he was also the younger brother of Prince Kwacho Hirotada. As Prince Hirotada died without heirs, the Kwacho-no-miya household became extinct. Prince Hironobu was appointed to perpetuate the Kwacho name, in order to ensure that the proper familial and ancestral rites were performed, but his status was devolved to Marquis ("Koshaku") under the "kazoku" peerage system.

A career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy, he graduated from the 25th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy. He served on the Japanese battleship Yamashiro, and subsequently on the Japanese cruiser Atago, rising to the rank of commander. In 1935, he served for a session in the House of Peers in the Diet of Japan. In 1939, he was appointed superintendent of the Naval War College, and remained in that post through World War II, retiring in November 1945.

Kwacho Hironobu married the 5th daughter of Prince Kan'in Kotohito, but they subsequently divorced.

His palatial residence in Kamakura, Kanagawa (built in 1929) survives, and was donated to the city of Kamakura in 1996.

External links

* [http://maskweb.jp/b_kachounomiya_1_1.html Kwacho-no-miya residence in Kamakura (Japanese site]