, born , was the twelfth child and eighth daughter of

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

of Japan, and the fifth child and fourth daughter of

Sono Sachiko Sono Sachiko (園祥子) (December 23, 1867 – July 7, 1947) was the fifth concubine of Emperor Meiji of Japan. Although Meiji was the last Japanese emperor to have more than one consort, the official role at court was not abolished until 1924; ...

, the Emperor's fifth concubine.

Biography

Nobuko was born in Japan, the daughter of

and Lady

Sachiko is a feminine Japanese given name that means "''child of bliss''." It also means "''happiness''" when it is written with the kanji characters 幸子. One common short form of the name is ''Sachi''. People * Sachiko, Princess Hisa (久宮祐子� ...

. She held the childhood appellation "Fumi no miya" (Princess Fumi). Her future husband,

Prince Yasuhiko Asaka General was the founder of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family and a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese invasion of China and the Second World War. Son-in-law of Emperor Meiji and uncle by marriage of Em ...

, was the eighth son of Prince Asahiko Kuni and the court lady Sugako Tsunoda. Prince Yasuhiko was also a half-brother of

Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni General 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. An uncle-in-law of Emperor Hirohito twice over, Prince Hi ...

, Prince Morimasa Nashimoto, Prince Kuninori Kaya, and

Prince Kuniyoshi Kuni was a member of the Japanese imperial family and a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Meiji and Taishō periods. He was the father of Empress Kōjun (who in turn was the consort of the Emperor Shōwa), and therefore, the mate ...

, the father of the future

Empress Kōjun , born , was a member of the Imperial House of Japan, the wife of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) and the mother of Shigeko Higashikuni, Princess Sachiko Hisa-nomiya, Kazuko Takatsukasa, Atsuko Ikeda, the Emperor Emeritus Akihito, Prince Masahit ...

, the consort of

Emperor Shōwa Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

. On 10 March 1906,

granted Prince Yasuhiko the title

Asaka-no-miya The Asaka (朝香) ''ōke'' (princely house) was the eighth oldest branch of the Japanese Imperial Family created from branches of the Fushimi-no-miya house. Asaka-no-miya The Asaka-no-miya house was formed by Prince Yasuhiko, eighth son of Pr ...

and authorization to begin a new branch of the imperial family. On 6 May 1909, Prince Asaka married Princess Fumi. Prince and Princess Asaka had four children: # ; married Marquis Nabeshima Naoyasu in 1931. Last grandchild of Emperor Meiji to have been born during his lifetime. # ; married Todo Chikako, the fifth daughter of Count Todo Takatsugu. They had two daughters, Fukuko and Minoko and a son Tomohiko. # , renounced membership in the imperial family and created Marquis Otowa, 1936. Killed in action during the

Battle of Kwajalein The Battle of Kwajalein was fought as part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. It took place from 31 January – 3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Employing the hard-learned lessons of the Battle of Tarawa, the Un ...

); # ; married Count Ogyu Yoshiatsu, died 1 day before her 100th birthday. She was the last surviving grandchild of Emperor Meiji. Nobuko died on 3 November 1933, aged 42, due to kidney disease.

Honours

* Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Precious Crown The is a Japanese order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. Since the Order of the Rising Sun at that time was an Order for men, it was established as an Order for women. Originally the order had five classes, but on Ap ...

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asaka, Princess Nobuko 1891 births 1933 deaths Japanese princesses Grand Cordons (Imperial Family) of the Order of the Precious Crown 19th-century Japanese people 19th-century Japanese women 20th-century Japanese people 20th-century Japanese women People from Tokyo Daughters of emperors