, posthumously honoured as , was the wife of

Emperor Taishō , posthumously honored as , was the 123rd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 1912 until his death in 1926. His reign, known as the Taishō era, was characterized by a liberal and democratic shift in ...

and the mother of Emperor Shōwa. Her posthumous name, ''Teimei'', means "enlightened constancy". She was also the paternal grandmother of Emperor Emeritus Akihito, and the paternal great-grandmother of Emperor Naruhito.

Biography

Sadako Kujō was born on 25 June 1884 in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, as the fourth daughter of Duke Michitaka Kujō, head of Kujō branch of the

Fujiwara clan The was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since ancient times and dominated the imperial court until th ...

. Her mother was Ikuko Noma (

Concubinage Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...

). She married then-Crown Prince Yoshihito (the future

) on 10 May 1900, at the age of 15. The couple lived in the newly constructed Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, outside of the main

Tokyo Imperial Palace is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda district of the Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda ward of Tokyo and contains several buildings including the where the Emperor h ...

complex. When she gave birth to a son, Hirohito, Prince Michi (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 when her husband ascended to the throne on 30 July 1912 following the death of her father-in-law,

Emperor Meiji , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...

. 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 of Taishō period were very good, as evidenced by Emperor Taishō's lack of interest in taking

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...

s, 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 (which means "widow of the former emperor"). She openly objected to Japan's involvement in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, which might have caused conflict with her eldest son, emperor

Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

. From 1943, she also worked behind the scenes with her third son Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu to bring about the downfall of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Hideki Tōjō. She was a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

adherent who had faith in Nichiren Shoshu and prayed with the

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

ritual ceremonies of the Tokyo Imperial Palace. 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.

Honours

National

* Grand Cordon of the Order of Meiji * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown

Foreign

* : The 1,060th

Dame ''Dame'' is a traditionally British honorific title given to women who have been admitted to certain orders of chivalry. It is the female equivalent of ''Sir'', the title used by knights. Baronet, Baronetesses Suo jure, in their own right also u ...

of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa

Issue

Ancestry

Gallery

Image:Sadako Kujo wedding.jpg, Crown Princess Sadako on her wedding day in 1900 Image:Wisteria floribunda5.jpg, Japanese wisteria, ''

Wisteria floribunda ''Wisteria floribunda'', common name , is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native plant, native to Japan. (''Wisteriopsis japonica'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Wisteria japonica'', is a different species.) Growing to , ''W ...

'', designated imperial personal emblem of Sadako Image:Empress Teimei at enthronement in 1912.jpg, The newly enthroned Empress Sadako in ''

jūnihitoe The , more formally known as the , is a style of formal court dress first worn in the Heian period by noble women and Lady-in-waiting, ladies-in-waiting at the Japanese Imperial Court. The was composed of a number of kimono-like robes, layered o ...

'', 1912 Image:Empress Sadako with Prince of Wales in 1922.jpg, Empress Sadako participating

cherry blossom The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...

viewing party with her eldest son, Crown Prince Hirohito and Edward, Prince of Wales at Shinjuku Gyo-en in 1922 File:HIM Empress Tenmei's personal visit.jpg, Empress Sadako visiting survivors after the

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (, or ) was a major earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September 1923. It had an approximate magnitude of 8.0 on the mom ...

File:Empress Teimei and Crown Prince Akihito.JPG, Empress Dowager Sadako with her grandson, Crown Prince

Akihito Akihito (born 23 December 1933) is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 1989 until 2019 Japanese imperial transition, his abdication in 2019. The era of his rule was named the Heisei era, Hei ...

in 1949 File:Takatsukasa Wedding 1950 5 20.jpg, From left to right: Kazuko, Princess Taka (granddaughter), Toshimichi Takatsukasa (grandson-in-law), Emperor

(eldest son), Empress Nagako (daughter-in-law) and Empress Dowager Sadako in May 1950 File:Funeral_of_Empress_Teimei.JPG, State funeral of Empress Teimei, 22 June 1951 File:Tama-higashi-no-misasagi.jpg, 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 HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

. ; * Fujitani, Takashi. (1998). ''Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan.''. Berkeley:

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

. ; —Reprint edition, 1998. * Hoyt, Edwin P. (1992). ''Hirohito: The Emperor and the Man''. New York: Praeger Publishers. ; {{DEFAULTSORT:Teimei, Empress 1884 births 1951 deaths People from Chiyoda, Tokyo Japanese empresses consort Kujō family Fujiwara clan Emperor Taishō Mothers of Japanese emperors Japanese Shintoists 19th-century Shintoists 20th-century Shintoists Japanese Buddhists Grand Cordons (Imperial Family) of the Order of the Precious Crown Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class Nichiren Buddhists Nichiren Shōshū