Empress KÅjun
Empress Kojun (Japanese香 淳 皇后Kojun - Kogo ); born as Princess Nagako (良 子女 王Nagako Joo, born March 6, 1903 in Tokyo, † June 16, 2000 ibid ) was Empress of Japan, wife of the Tenno ( Emperor ) Hirohito and mother of the Tenno Akihito.
Kojun was the longest surviving wife of an emperor in Japanese history. From 26 January 1924 to 25 December 1926, she was Crown Princess, December 25, 1926 to January 7, 1989 for Empress and January 7, 1989 until her death on 16 June 2000 Empress Dowager.
Early life
Princess Nagako was born in Tokyo as the eldest daughter of Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi (1873-1929) and his wife Chikako ( 1879-1956 ). Her mother Chikako was the seventh daughter of Prince Shimazu Tadayoshi, former lord of Satsuma and the 29th and last Daimyo of this line. Princess Nagako visited the girls' department of the noble School in Tokyo, Gakushuin today with her first cousin Masako Nashimoto, which became known as Crown Princess of Korea Bangja later.
Marriage and Family
The engagement took place in January 1919 Princess Nagakos with its distant cousin, the Crown Prince Hirohito, was unusual in two respects. For one, she was a princess of the imperial origins, although for centuries the main women of the Japanese Emperor and the Crown Prince came from the five main branches of the Fujiwara clan ( Konoe, Ichijō, Nijo, Takatsukasa, and Kujo ). On the other hand came from, although Nagakos father was a scion of the Imperial family, her mother, or the feudal military aristocracy of the daimyo.
Princess Nagako married the Crown Prince Hirohito on January 26, 1924, was with his accession to the throne on December 25, 1926 Empress. The Tenno and his wife had seven children, five daughters and two sons:
The daughters who lived to adulthood, left the Japanese Imperial home because of the American reforms of the Japanese imperial household in October 1947 (in the case of Princess Higashikuni ) or under the terms of the Law on the Imperial household in 1947, when their marriage took place ( in case of the Princesses Yori, Taka and Suga ).
Life as empress
Even if they fulfilled their ceremonial duties as empress the traditions accordingly, the Empress was the first wife of a Tennō who traveled abroad. She accompanied the Showa tennō on his trip to Europe in 1971 and later on his state visit to the United States. It became known as the " smiling Empress".
After the death of Emperor Hirohito in 1989 she was awarded the title of Empress Dowager ( kōtaigō ). At this time, her health had already deteriorated so that she could not participate in Hirohito's funeral. Her last public appearance was in 1988, the rest of her life she spent in seclusion. In 1996, official photos of the Empress Dowager were published on the public wish. At the time of her death at the age of 97 years in 2000 she had been for 74 years empress. Akihito gave his mother after her death the title of Empress Kojun.