Empress Teimei

Empress Teimei (貞明皇后, Teimei-kōgō, 25 June 1884 – 17 May 1951) was empress consort of Emperor Taishō of Japan. Born Sadako Kujō (九条節子, Kujō Sadako), she was the mother of Emperor Shōwa. Her posthumous name, Teimei, means "enlightened constancy".

Biography

Sadako Kujō was born on 25 June 1884 in Tokyo, as the fourth daughter of Duke Michitaka Kujō, head of Kujō branch of the Fujiwara clan. Her mother was Ikuko Noma.^[1]

She married then-Crown Prince Yoshihito (the future Emperor Taishō) on 25 May 1900. The couple lived in the newly constructed Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, outside of the main Tokyo Imperial Palace complex. When she gave birth to a son, Prince Hirohito (the future Emperor Shōwa) in 1901, she was the first official wife of a Crown Prince or Emperor to have given birth to the official heir to the throne since 1750.

She became Empress (Kōgō) when her husband ascended to the throne on 30 July 1912. Given her husband's weak physical and mental condition, she exerted a strong influence on imperial life, and was an active patron of Japanese Red Cross Society. The relations between the Emperor and Empress were very good, as evidenced by Emperor Taishō’s lack of interest in taking concubines, thus breaking with hundreds of years of imperial tradition, and by her giving birth to four sons.

After the death of Emperor Taishō on 25 December 1926, her title became that of Dowager Empress (皇太后, Kōtaigō) (which means "widow of the former emperor"). She openly objected to Japan's involvement in World War II, which might have caused conflict with her son, Hirohito. From 1943, she also worked behind the scenes with her third son Prince Takamatsu to bring about the downfall of Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō.

She died on 17 May 1951 at Omiya Palace in Tokyo, aged 66, and was buried near her husband, Emperor Taishō, in the Tama no higashi no misasagi (多摩東陵) at the Musashi Imperial Graveyard in Tokyo.^[2]

Titles and styles

Styles of Empress Teimei

Reference style	Her Imperial Majesty
Spoken style	Your Imperial Majesty
Alternative style	Ma'am

25 June 1884 – 25 May 1900: Lady Sadako Kujō
25 May 1900 – 30 July 1912: Her Imperial Highness The Crown Princess
30 July 1912 – 25 December 1926: Her Majesty The Empress
25 December 1926 – 17 May 1951: Her Majesty The Empress Dowager
Posthumous title: Her Majesty Empress Teimei

Honours

National honours

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown

Foreign honours

The 1,060th Dame of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa

Issue

Name	Birth	Marriage		Issue
Hirohito, Emperor Shōwa	29 April 1901 died, 7 January 1989	26 January 1924	Princess Nagako of Kuni	Shigeko, Princess Teru Sachiko, Princess Hisa Kazuko, Princess Taka Atsuko, Princess Yori Akihito, Emperor of Japan Masahito, Prince Hitachi Takako, Princess Suga
Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu	25 June 1902 died, 4 January 1953	28 September 1928	Setsuko Matsudaira
Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu	3 January 1905 died, 3 February 1987	4 February 1930	Kikuko Tokugawa
Takahito, Prince Mikasa	2 December 1915 died, 27 October 2016	22 October 1941	Yuriko Takagi	Princess Yasuko of Mikasa Prince Tomohito of Mikasa Yoshihito, Prince Katsura Princess Masako of Mikasa Norihito, Prince Takamado

Gallery

The newly crowned Empress Teimei in jūnihitoe, 1912
Crown Princess Sadako on her wedding day in 1900
Empress Teimei's four sons in 1921 : Hirohito, Takahito, Nobuhito and Yasuhito
Empress Teimei with Prince Hirohito and the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) in 1922
Empress Teimei visiting survivors after the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923
Empress Teimei with her grandson, Prince Akihito in 1949
Empress Teimei's mausoleum in the Musashi Imperial Graveyard

Notes

References

Bix, Herbert P. (2000). Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-019314-0; OCLC 247018161
Fujitani, Takashi. (1998). Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan.. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-20237-5; OCLC 246558189—Reprint edition, 1998. ISBN 0-520-21371-8
Hoyt, Edwin P. (1992). Hirohito: The Emperor and the Man. New York: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 978-0-275-94069-0; OCLC 23766658

Japanese royalty
Preceded by Empress Shōken	Empress consort of Japan 1912–1926	Succeeded by Empress Kōjun
Preceded by Empress Shōken	Empress Dowager of Japan 1926–1951	Succeeded by Empress Kōjun

Japanese imperial consorts

This is a list of Japanese imperial consorts since Emperor Sushun's reign.

Ōtomo no Koteko Yamato Hime no Ōkimi Princess Tōchi Empress Kōmyō Princess Inoe Fujiwara no Otomuro Fujiwara no Taishi Tachibana no Kachiko Princess Seishi Princess Koshi Fujiwara no Onshi Fujiwara no Anshi Princess Masako Fujiwara no Koshi Fujiwara no Junshi/Nobuko Fujiwara no Teishi Empress Shōshi Fujiwara no Kenshi Fujiwara no Seishi Fujiwara no Ishi Princess Teishi Fujiwara no Genshi Princess Shōshi Fujiwara no Hiroko Fujiwara no Kanshi Princess Kaoruko Fujiwara no Kenshi Princess Yasuko Princess Tokushi Princess Reishi Fujiwara no Shōshi/Fujiwara no Tamako Fujiwara no Kiyoko Fujiwara no Yasuko Fujiwara no Nariko Fujiwara no Tashi Fujiwara no Shimeko Fujiwara Kinshi Princess Muneko Princess Yoshiko Fujiwara no Ikushi Taira no Tokushi Princess Sukeko Fujiwara no Ninshi Princess Noriko Fujiwara no Reishi Princess Shōshi Fujiwara no Ritsushi Princess Kuniko Fujiwara no Ariko Fujiwara no Chōshi Fujiwara no Shunshi Princess Rishi Fujiwara no Kitsushi Princess Teruko Fujiwara no Kimiko Fujiwara no Saneko Fujiwara no Kishi Princess Reishi Fujiwara no Shōshi (Fushimi) Fujiwara no Kinshi Princess Shōshi Saionji no Kishi Princess Junshi Consort of Emperor Chōkei Minamoto no Masako Fujiwara no Fusako Princess Yukiko Princess Yoshiko Fujiwara no Tsunako Kujō Asako Ichijirō Masako Kujō Sadako Princess Nagako Shōda Michiko (current)

Japanese princesses by marriage

The Japanese princesses by marriage since Emperor Meiji's reign, who in his time the Empire of Japan was formed.

1st generation	Sadako Kujō

2nd generation	Princess Nagako of Kuni* Setsuko Matsudaira Kikuko Tokugawa Yuriko Takagi

3rd generation	Michiko Shōda Hanako Tsugaru Nobuko Asō Hisako Tottori

4th generation	Masako Owada Kiko Kawashima

* also a princess of Japan in her own right.

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 77842201 LCCN: n87868298 SUDOC: 16384898X NDL: 00083470

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