Empress Teimei

Empress Teimei 貞明皇后
File:Empress Sadako.jpg
Empress consort of Japan
Tenure	30 July 1912 – 25 December 1926
Enthronement	10 November 1915
Born	(1884-06-25)25 June 1884 Nishikichō, Tokyo, Japan
Died	Fukiage Ōmiya Palace, Tokyo, Japan
Burial	22 June 1951 Musashi Imperial Graveyard, Hachiōji, Tokyo, Japan
Spouse	Yoshihito, Emperor Taishō
Issue	Hirohito, Emperor Shōwa Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu Takahito, Prince Mikasa
Full name Sadako (節子)
House	Imperial House of Japan
Father	Michitaka Kujō
Mother	Ikuko Noma (concubine)
Religion	Shinto

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.

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 caused conflict with her son, Hirohito government. 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.

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 Imperial Majesty The Empress
• 25 December 1926 – 17 May 1951: Her Imperial Majesty The Empress Dowager
• Posthumous title: Her Imperial 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	22 October 1941	Yuriko Takagi	Princess Yasuko of Mikasa Prince Tomohito of Mikasa Yoshihito, Prince Katsura Princess Masako of Mikasa Norihito, Prince Takamado

Gallery

• Empress Teimei at coronation in 1912.jpg

  The newly crowned Empress Teimei in jūnihitoe, 1912

• Sadako Kujo wedding.jpg

  Crown Princess Sadako on her wedding day in 1900

• 

  Empress Teimei's four sons in 1921 : Hirohito, Takahito, Nobuhito and Yasuhito

• Empress Sadako with Prince of Wales in 1922.jpg

  Empress Teimei with Prince Hirohito and the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) in 1922

• HIM the Empress' personal visit.jpg

  Empress Teimei visiting survivors after the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923

• Empress Teimei and Crown Prince Akihito.JPG

  Empress Teimei with her grandson, Prince Akihito in 1949

• Tama-higashi-no-misasagi.jpg

  Empress Teimei's mausoleum in the Musashi Imperial Graveyard

See also

• Japanese empresses
• Ōmiya Palace

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