is a former Japanese prince, the only son of

Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi was the eldest son of Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu, and heir-apparent due to inherit the position of 24th head of the Fushimi-no-miya shinnōke (collateral branch of the Imperial Family of Japan), and a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy. ...

and 24th head of the

Fushimi-no-miya The is the oldest of the four shinnōke, branches of the Imperial Family of Japan which were eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in the order of succession. The Fushimi-no-miya was founded by Prince Yoshihito, the son of the Northe ...

shinnōke was the collective name for the four cadet branches of the Imperial House of Japan, which were until 1947 entitled to provide a successor to the Chrysanthemum Throne if the main line failed to produce an heir. The heads of these royal house ...

(one of the four branch houses of the

Imperial Family of Japan The is the reigning dynasty of Japan, consisting of those members of the extended family of the reigning emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present constitution of Japan, the emperor is "the symbol of the State ...

). He became a

commoner A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

since the passing of the Imperial Household Law of 1947. If the law had not been changed, he would have been 4th in line to the Japanese throne .

Life

In terms of succession to the Japanese throne, Hiroaki Fushimi is a 16th cousin, thrice removed, of

Emperor Naruhito Naruhito (born 23 February 1960) is Emperor of Japan. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne following the abdication of his father, Akihito, on 1 May 2019, beginning the Reiwa era. He is the 126th monarch, according to the traditional order ...

. Their most recent common ancestor in the paternal line was Prince Fushimi Sadafusa (1372–1456), who fathered Naruhito's forefather

Emperor Go-Hanazono (July 10, 1419 – January 18, 1471) was the 102nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後花園天皇 (102) retrieved 2013-8-28. His reign spanned the years from 1428 thro ...

(1428–1464) and Hiroaki's forefather Prince Fushimi Sadatsune (1426–1474). Despite the great distance, Hiroaki is the closest male-line relative to the current Imperial House, and has therefore figured in the

Japanese succession debate From 2001 to 2006, Japan discussed the possibility of changing the laws of succession to the Chrysanthemum Throne, which is currently limited to males in the male line of the Japanese imperial family. As of June 2025, there are three people ...

as a possible successor to the throne in case all five male members of the Imperial House die without heirs. Hiroaki is also more immediately a third cousin once removed of the present Emperor, as both are descended from Prince Fushimi Kuniie, Naruhito's three-times great-grandfather through his grandmother the Empress Kojun, and Hiroaki's paternal great-great-grandfather. He was born 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 ...

, and educated at the Gakushuin Peers School. His father, Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi (1897–1938) was a naval commander in the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

, and died shortly after the opening stages of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

in 1937. Prince Hiroaki, therefore, became the twenty-fourth head of the Fushimi-no-miya upon the death of grandfather,

Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu was a scion of the Japanese imperial family and a career naval officer who served as chief of staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1932 to 1941. Early life Prince Hiroyasu was born in Tokyo as Prince Narukata, the eldest son of Prince F ...

, on 16 August 1946. He was styled His Imperial Highness. With the abolition of the collateral branches of the Imperial household by the American occupation authorities after the end of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

, Prince Fushimi became a commoner, Hiroaki Fushimi on 14 October 1947. He later traveled to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and attended

Centre College Centre College, formally Centre College of Kentucky, is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, United States. Chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819, the col ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

(where one of his classmates was the former crown prince of

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, Prince Ku). He returned to Japan to pursue a career with

Mobil Oil Mobil Oil Corporation, now known as just Mobil, is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil, formerly known as Exxon, which took its current name after it and Mobil merged in 1999. A direct descenda ...

. His late wife, the former Tokiko Yoshikawa, was the daughter of the president of Yoshikawa Optical Instruments. The couple have three daughters: Masako (born 1964), Nobuko (born 1961), and Akiko (born 1959).

Ancestry

References

Sources

* Fujitani, T. ''Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan''. University of California Press; Reprint edition (1998). *Lebra, Sugiyama Takie. ''Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility.'' University of California Press (1995). {{DEFAULTSORT:Fushimi, Hiroaki Japanese princes Fushimi-no-miya 1932 births Living people Centre College alumni People from Chiyoda, Tokyo ExxonMobil people