was a Japanese career officer in the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

, who was a member 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 ...

, one of the ''

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 ...

'' branches of the

Imperial Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarch, monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or emperor, empress, and the term papal family describes the family of ...

of Japan, which were eligible to succeed to the

Chrysanthemum Throne The is the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term also can refer to very specific seating, such as the throne in the Shishin-den at Kyoto Imperial Palace. Various other thrones or seats that are used by the Emperor during official functions ...

Biography

Early life

Prince Akihito was born as Prince Yoshiaki, the seventh son of

Prince Fushimi Kuniie was Japanese royalty. He was the 20th/23rd prince head of the House of Fushimi and the eldest son of Prince Fushimi Sadayuki (1776–1841) and his concubine Seiko, which made him the 11th cousin of Emperor Sakuramachi. Despite being merely a d ...

. In 1858, he was adopted by

Emperor Ninkō Ayahito (16 March 1800 – 21 February 1846), posthumously honored as Emperor Ninkō, was the 120th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 仁孝天皇 (120)/ref> Ninkō's rei ...

as a potential heir to the throne. As he was born when the country was still under rule by the

Tokugawa Bakufu The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, he was sent into the

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 ...

priesthood, and assigned to serve at the ''

monzeki ''Monzeki'' (門跡) were Japanese Buddhist priests of aristocratic or Imperial lineage. The term was also applied to the temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as p ...

'' temple of

Ninna-ji is the head temple of the Omuro school of the Shingon Sect of Buddhism. Located in western Kyoto, Japan, it was first founded in AD 888 by Emperor Uda, and was later reconstructed in the 17th century. It is part of the Historic Monuments of ...

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, where he adopted the title ''Ninnaji-no-miya Yoshiaki'' (仁和寺宮嘉彰). He returned to secular life in 1867 during the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, and led imperial forces to

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

and

Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princ ...

during the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

to overthrow the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

. Prince Yoshiaki married Arima Yoriko (June 18, 1852 – June 26, 1914), daughter of Arima Yorishige, the former ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of

Kurume Domain 270px, Arima Yorishige, final daimyo of Kurume Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Chikugo Province in modern-day Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Ja ...

, on November 6, 1869. In 1870,

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 ...

assigned him the title of

Higashifushimi-no-miya The Komatsu House (''Komatsu-no-miya'') or Higashifushimi (東伏見) ''ōke'' (princely house) was the sixth oldest branch of the Imperial House of Japan, created from branches of the Fushimi-no-miya house, presently extinct. It was founded by I ...

Military career

Prince Yoshiaki studied

military tactic Military tactics encompasses the art of organizing and employing fighting forces on or near the battlefield. They involve the application of four battlefield functions which are closely related – kinetic or firepower, mobility, protection or ...

s in England for two years from 1870 to 1872. Considered a brilliant military tactician, he helped subdue many of the ''

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

'' rebellions in the early years of the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, including the

Saga Rebellion The was an 1874 uprising in Kyūshū against the new Meiji government of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Saga no ran" in . It was led by Etō Shinpei and Shima Yoshitake in their native domain of Hizen province, Hizen. Background Fo ...

of 1874, and the

Satsuma Rebellion The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the , was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government of the Empire of Japan, nine years into the Meiji era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in ...

of 1877. The emperor granted him the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

in the newly created

and awarded him the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

(1st class). In 1882, he changed the name of his house to

Komatsu-no-miya The Komatsu House (''Komatsu-no-miya'') or Higashifushimi (東伏見) ''ōke'' (princely house) was the sixth oldest branch of the Imperial House of Japan, created from branches of the Fushimi-no-miya house, presently extinct. It was founded by I ...

and his personal name from "Yoshiaki" to "Akihito", and became therefore known as "Prince Komatsu-no-miya Akihito".

Prince Komatsu rose to the rank of

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

and received command of the First Imperial Guard Division in 1890. He was nominal commander of the Japanese expeditionary forces in the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...

(1894–95) and became a member of the Supreme Military Council. Following the death of his uncle,

Prince Arisugawa Taruhito was a Japanese career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army, who became the 9th head of the line of '' shinnōke'' cadet branches of the Imperial Family of Japan on September 9, 1871. Early life Prince Arisugawa Taruhito was born in Kyoto in ...

in 1895, Prince Komatsu Akihito became the chief of the

Imperial Japanese Army General Staff The , also called the Army General Staff, was one of the two principal agencies charged with overseeing the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Role The was created in April 1872, along with the Navy Ministry, to replace the Ministry of Military Af ...

, and received the honorary rank of

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Diplomatic career

Prince Komatsu Akihito also served the Meiji government in a diplomatic capacity. In 1886, he went to England, France, Germany and Russia on behalf of Emperor Meiji. He was sent to

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

in 1887 to mark the inaugural step in relations between

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and the Empire of Japan. Prince Komatsu was received in an audience by the

Ottoman Emperor The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its height, the Ottoman Empire spa ...

‘Abdu’l-Hamid II. In June 1902, Prince Komatsu Akihito returned to the United Kingdom to represent Emperor Meiji at the

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

ceremonies for

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

, and also visited France, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Russia. In his latter years, Prince Komatsu was a patron of the

Japanese Red Cross The is the Japanese affiliate of the International Red Cross. The Imperial Family of Japan has traditionally supported the society, with the Empress as Honorary President and other imperial family members as vice presidents. Its headquarters ...

Society and the ''

Dai Nippon Butoku Kai (DNBK, , ) was the largest martial arts organization in Japan with strong ties to WWII-era Japanese government, originally established in 1895 in Kyoto and had the biggest influence on Budo in modern Japan. The first president was Imperial Prin ...

'', along with other charity institutions. As Prince Komatsu died without heirs, the title of Komatsu-no-miya reverted to his younger brother,

Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito was the second (and last) head of the Higashifushimi-no-miya, an ''ōke'' cadet branch of the Japanese imperial family. Early life Born on September 19, 1867, as seventeenth son of Prince Fushimi Kuniie, head of the Fushimi-no-miya, one of the ...

. However, to preserve the Komatsu family name, in 1910 the fourth son of

Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa of Japan, was the second head of a ōke, collateral branch of the Imperial Household of Japan, Japanese imperial family. He was formerly enshrined in Tainan Shrine, Tainan-Jinja, Taiwan, under the name ''Kitashirakawa no Miya Yoshihisa-shinnō ...

was renamed Teruhisa Komatsu, with the peerage title of

marquis A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wido ...

(''koshaku'').

Notes

References

* * * * ;

External links

Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C. , Japan-Turkey History of Friendship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Komatsu Akihito, Prince Japanese princes Komatsu-no-miya People of the Boshin War Marshals of Japan 1846 births 1903 deaths Japanese military personnel of the First Sino-Japanese War Japanese generals People of the Meiji era People of the Satsuma Rebellion Imperial Japanese Army officers Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite, 2nd class Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Nobility from Kyoto