This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Empress Teimei is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| Teimei 貞明皇后 |
|
|---|---|
| Empress Consort of Japan (more...) | |
 |
|
| Consort to | Emperor Taishō |
| Issue | |
| Hirohito, Prince Michi Yasuhito, Prince Atsu Nobuhito, Prince Teru Takahito, Prince Sumi |
|
| Titles and styles | |
| HIM Empress Teimei (1951- posthumous name) HIM The Empress Dowager of Japan (1926-1951) HIM The Empress of Japan (1912-1926) HIH The Crown Princess of Japan (1900-1912) Lady Sadako of Kujō (1884-1912) |
|
| Royal house | House of Yamato |
| Royal anthem | Kimi ga Yo |
| Father | Michitaka Kujō |
| Mother | Noma Ikuko |
| Born | June 25, 1884 Tokyo, Japan |
| Died | May 17, 1951 (aged 66) Tokyo, Japan |
| Burial | Musashino Imperial Mausoleum in Tokyo |
Empress Teimei (貞明皇后 Teimei Kōgō?, June 25, 1884 – May 17, 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".
Contents |
Biography
Princess Sadako Kujō was born in Tokyo, as the fourth daughter of Prince Michitaka Kujō, head of Kujō branch of the Fujiwara clan, and Noma Ikuko.
She married then-Crown Prince Yoshihito (the future Emperor Taishō) on May 25, 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 July 30, 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 December 25, 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 caused conflict with her son, Hirohito. From 1943, she also worked behind the scene with her younger son Prince Takamatsu Nobuhito to bring the downfall of Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō.
She died at Omiya Palace in Tokyo, aged 66, and was buried next to her husband, Emperor Taishō, in the Tama no higashi no misasagi (多摩東陵) at Musashino Imperial Mausoleum in Tokyo.
Gallery
 Empress Teimei in formal robes, 1912 |
 Empress Teimei with Prince Hirohito and the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) in 1922.jpg |
See also
References
- Bix, Herbert B. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. Harper Perennial (2001). ISBN 0-06-093130-2
- Fujitani,T. Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan. University of California Press; Reprint edition (1998). ISBN 0-520-21371-8
- Hoyt, Edwin P. Hirohito: The Emperor and the Man. Praeger Publishers (1992). ISBN 0-275-94069-1
| Preceded by Empress Shōken |
Empress consort of Japan 1912-1926 |
Succeeded by Empress Kōjun |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 24 December 2008, at 16:27.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Empress Teimei".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.