Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni

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General Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni
東久邇宮稔彦王
Formal portrait, c. 1914-15
Prime Minister of Japan
In office 17 August 1945 – 9 October 1945
Monarch	Hirohito
Preceded by	Kantarō Suzuki
Succeeded by	Kijūrō Shidehara
Personal details
Born	(1887-12-03)3 December 1887 Independent
Spouse	Toshiko, Princess Yasu ​ ​ (m. 1915; died 1978)​
Children	IJA 2nd Army, General Defense Command
Battles/wars	Second Sino-Japanese War Pacific War
Prince Higashikuni
Tenure	3 November 1906 – 14 October 1947
Successor	Title abolished
Head of the House of Higashikuni
Tenure	3 November 1906 – 20 January 1990
Successor	Nobuhiko Higashikuni
Japanese name
Kanji	東久邇宮稔彦王
Transcriptions Romanization Higashikuni-no-miya Naruhiko Ō

Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni (東久邇宮稔彦王, Higashikuni-no-miya Naruhiko Ō, 3 December 1887 – 20 January 1990) was a Japanese imperial prince, a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 30th Prime Minister of Japan from 17 August 1945 to 9 October 1945, a period of 54 days. He is the shortest-serving prime minister, resigning after eight weeks. An uncle-in-law of Emperor Hirohito twice over,^[1] Prince Higashikuni was the only member of the Japanese imperial family to head a cabinet and was the last general officer of the Imperial Japanese military to become Prime Minister. He was the founder of the Chiba Institute of Technology. He was one of the longest-lived members of any royal family.^[2]

Early life

Prince Naruhiko was born on 3 December 1887 in

Marriage and family

Emperor Meiji granted Prince Naruhiko the title Higashikuni-no-miya and permission to start a new branch of the imperial family on 3 November 1906. Prince Naruhiko married the ninth daughter of Emperor Meiji, Toshiko, Princess Yasu (11 May 1896 – 5 March 1978), on 18 May 1915. The couple had four sons.

1. Prince
   Higashikuni Morihiro (盛厚王, Morohiro ō, 6 May 1916 – 1 February 1969); married Shigeko, Princess Teru, the eldest daughter of Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun
   .
2. Prince Moromasa (師正王, Moromasa ō, 3 November 1918 – 1 September 1923); died in the Great Kantō earthquake.
3. Prince Akitsune (彰常王, Akitsune ō, 13 May 1920 – 30 August 2006); renounced imperial title and created
   Marquis
   Awata Akitsune, 1940
4. Prince Toshihiko (俊彦王, Toshihiko ō, March 24, 1929 – April 15, 2015); renounced imperial title and created Count Tarama Toshihiko, 1943; relocated to Lins, São Paulo, Brazil, 1950.

Military career

Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko was a career officer in the

Prince Higashikuni then studied

On 13 May 1939 the Imperial General Headquarters authorized the use of poison gas to

Six weeks later, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. During the early stages of the Pacific War, Prince Higashikuni served as commander of the General Defense Command from 1941 to 1944.

Prince Higashikuni remained steadfast in his opposition to the war with the Allied powers, and was part of the conspiracy (with Prince Yasuhiko Asaka, Prince Nobuhito Takamatsu, and former Prime Minister Konoe) which finally ousted Tōjō in July 1944 following the fall of Saipan to American forces. The American researchers with SCAP also found out that he had planned towards the end of the war to depose Emperor Shōwa, placing the Crown Prince Akihito on the throne instead, governing the country with himself as regent.^[7]

Prime Minister

After the course of the war turned against Japan, and the decision was made to accept the Potsdam Declaration, the Shōwa Emperor appointed Prince Higashikuni to the position of prime minister on 17 August 1945, replacing navy Admiral Kantarō Suzuki. The mission of the Higashikuni Cabinet was twofold: first, to ensure the orderly cessation of hostilities and demobilization of the Japanese armed forces; and second, to reassure the Japanese people that the imperial institution remained secure. Prince Higashikuni resigned in October over a dispute with the Allied occupation forces over the repeal of the 1925 Peace Preservation Law. This law was largely intended to prevent the spread of Communism to Japan.

Life after resignation

On 27 February 1946, Prince Higashikuni gave an interview to the Yomiuri-Hōchi newspaper in which he claimed that many members of the imperial family had approved Emperor Shōwa's abdication, with Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu serving as regent until Crown Prince Akihito came of age.^[8] In the government, only Prime Minister Kijūrō Shidehara and the Imperial Household Minister Yoshitami Matsudaira opposed this. On 4 March 1946, Higashikuni gave a similar interview to the Associated Press (reported in The New York Times) indicating that he had proposed to the Emperor possible dates for abdication.^[9]

In 1946, Prince Higashikuni asked the emperor for permission to renounce his membership in the Imperial Family and become a commoner. The emperor denied the request. However, along with other members of the Imperial branch families (shinnōke and ōke), Prince Higashikuni lost his title and most of his wealth as a result of the American occupation’s abolition of the princely houses on 17 October 1947.

As a private citizen, Higashikuni operated several unsuccessful retail enterprises (including a provisions store, second-hand goods store, and dressmaker's shop). He even created his own new Zen Buddhism-based religious sect, the Higashikuni-kyo, which was subsequently banned by the American occupation authorities.

The former prince became the honorary chairman of the International Martial Arts Federation (IMAF) in 1957, and honorary president of several other organizations.

In 1958, Higashikuni published his wartime journals under the title, Ichi Kozoku no Senso Nikki (or The War Diary of a Member of the Imperial Family). He published his autobiographical memoirs, Higashikuni Nikki, in 1968.

Death and legacy

Higashikuni died of

Gallery

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko.

• 
  HIH Prince Naruhiko
• 
  HIH Prince Naruhiko in France
• 
  HIH Princess Toshiko, Emperor Meiji's daughter (wife)
• 
  HIH Prince Morihiro (son and heir)
• 
  HIH Princess Shigeko, Emperor Shōwa's daughter (daughter-in-law)

References

• ISBN 0-393-32027-8
• ISBN 0-14-100146-1
• ISBN 0-316-54498-1
• ISBN 0-394-74101-3
• ISBN 0-8129-6858-1

Political offices
Preceded by Kantarō Suzuki	Prime Minister of Japan Aug 1945 – Oct 1945	Succeeded by Kijūrō Shidehara
Preceded by Korechika Anami	Army Minister Aug 1945 – Aug 1945	Succeeded by Sadamu Shimomura
Military offices
Preceded by Otozō Yamada	Commander, General Defense Command Dec 1941 – Apr 1945	Succeeded by none
Preceded by Toshizō Nishio	Commander, IJA 2nd Army Apr 1938 – Dec 1939	Succeeded by none
Records
Preceded by Willem Drees	Oldest living state leader 14 May 1988 – 20 January 1990	Succeeded by Antoine Pinay