View source for Prince Nashimoto Morimasa

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{more footnotes|date=November 2024}}
{{expand Japanese|topic=bio|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Morimasa
| title        = Prince Nashimoto
| birth_date   = {{birth date|1874|3|9|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Kyoto]], [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1951|1|2|1874|3|9|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Shibuya|Shibuya-ku]], Tokyo, Japan
| image        = Prince Nashimoto Morimasa.jpg
| caption      = Prince Nashimoto Morimasa, 1935
| father       = [[Prince Kuni Asahiko]]
| mother       = Harada Mitsue
| spouse       = [[Itsuko Nashimoto]] ({{married in|1897}})
| issue        = [[Yi Bangja|Yi Bangja (Ri Masako), Crown Princess of Korea]]<br>Hirohashi Noriko
| succession   = [[Nashimoto-no-miya|Prince Nashimoto]]
| reign        = 2 December 1885 – 14 October 1947
| succession1  = [[Nashimoto-no-miya|Head of ''Nashimoto-no-miya'']]
| reign1       = 2 December 1885 – 2 January 1951
| module       = {{Infobox military person | embed=yes
   |nickname=
   |allegiance= {{flag|Japan}}
   |branch= {{army|Empire of Japan}}
   |serviceyears= 1899–1944
   |rank=[[Field Marshal (Japan)|field marshal]] [[File:元帥徽章.svg|25px]]
   |unit=
   |commands=1st Brigade<br>[[16th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|16th Division]]
   |battles=[[Russo-Japanese War]]<br>[[Second Sino-Japanese War]]<br>[[World War II]]
   |awards={{ublist|[[Order of the Chrysanthemum|Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum]]|[[Order of the Rising Sun]]|[[Order of the Golden Kite]]|[[Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary|Order of St. Stephen]]}}
   |relations=
   |signature = }}
}}

[[File:Nashimoto-Family 1918-12-8.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Nashimoto family in 1918]]
{{nihongo|'''Morimasa, Prince Nashimoto '''|梨本宮守正王|Nashimoto no miya Morimasa ō|extra= 9 March 1874 – 2 January 1951}} was a member of the [[Imperial House of Japan|Japanese Imperial Family]] and a ''[[Field Marshal (Japan)|field marshal]]'' in the [[Imperial Japanese Army]]. An uncle-in-law of [[Hirohito]] (Emperor Shōwa), an uncle of his consort, [[Empress Nagako|Empress Kōjun]], and the father-in-law of [[Yi Un|Crown Prince Euimin]] of Korea, Prince Nashimoto was the only member of the Imperial Family arrested for [[war crime]]s during the [[Occupation of Japan|Allied occupation of Japan]] following [[Surrender of Japan|defeat]] in the [[World War II|Second World War]].

==Early life==
Prince Nashimoto Morimasa was born in [[Kyoto]], the fourth son of [[Prince Kuni Asahiko]] and Harada Mitsue, a court lady. His father, a prince of the blood and one-time [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[Bhikkhu|priest]], was the head of one of the ''[[ōke]]'' collateral branches of the Imperial Family created during the early [[Meiji era|Meiji period]]. Originally named Prince Tada, his half-brothers included [[Prince Kaya Kuninori]], [[Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni]] (served as [[Prime Minister of Japan|prime minister]] in 1945), [[Prince Yasuhiko Asaka]], [[Prince Kuni Taka]], and [[Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi]].

On 2 December 1885, [[Emperor Meiji]] named him successor to the [[ōke|Nashimoto-no-miya]], another cadet branch of the imperial family. He adopted the personal name "Morimasa" the following year.

==Family==
On 28 November 1897, Prince Nashimoto married Nabeshima Itsuko (2 February 1879 – 18 August 1977), the second daughter of [[Marquis]] [[Nabeshima Naohiro (Saga)|Nabeshima Naohiro]], a former Japanese ambassador to Italy and the son of the last feudal lord ''([[daimyō]])'' of [[Saga Domain]]. Itsuko was the maternal aunt of [[Setsuko, Princess Chichibu]], [[Emperor Taishō]]'s daughter-in-law.

The couple had two daughters and one adopted son.
# {{nihongo|[[Yi Bangja|Princess Nashimoto Masako]]|方子||}}, (4 November 1899 – 30 April 1989). Married the half-brother and heir of Korea's last monarch, [[Yi Un]] (Crown Prince Euimin) in 1920.
# {{nihongo|Princess Nashimoto Noriko|規子||}}, (27 April 1907 – 25 August 1985) married Count Hirohashi Tadamitsu in 1926.
# {{ill|Prince Norihiko|ja|梨本徳彦}}, (22 November 1922 – 7 February 2007), son of Prince Kuni Taka, became Count Tatsuta Norihiko in 1943, adopted by Princess Nashimoto Itsuko to carry on Nashimoto family name on 28 April 1966. Married Princess Kuni Masako, daughter of [[Prince Kuni Asaakira]], in 1945 but divorced her in 1980.

==Military career==
Like the other princes of the imperial blood at the time, Prince Nashimoto Morimasa pursued a military career. Educated at the Central Military Preparatory School and the [[Imperial Japanese Army Academy]], he received a commission as a [[second lieutenant]] in the IJA 39th Infantry Regiment in 1899. In 1903, he went to the [[École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr]] at [[Saint-Cyr-l'École|St. Cyr]], France, but returned to Japan the following year and served with his regiment as a captain under General [[Oku Yasukata]] in the [[Russo-Japanese War]]. Prince Nashimoto then returned to France in August 1906 and remained until July 1909. The Prince rose to the rank of major of the [[Infantry]] in 1906, [[lieutenant colonel]] in 1908, and [[colonel]] in 1910. He was promoted to [[lieutenant general]] and commander of the [[16th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|IJA 16th Division]] in August 1917.

Prince Nashimoto became a member of the [[Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office]] in November 1919 and was promoted to the rank of general in August 1922. On 8 August 1932, he was given the largely honorary rank of [[Field Marshal (Japan)|field marshal]] and became a member of the Board of Marshals and Fleet Admirals. However, the prince held no major military commands during the [[Pacific War]] (1941–1945). Unlike his younger half-brothers and [[Emperor Meiji]]'s sons-in-law, [[Prince Yasuhiko Asaka]] and [[Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni]] (served as [[Prime Minister of Japan|prime minister]] in 1945), he remained largely removed from the mounting radicalism within the army, which culminated in the [[February 26 Incident]] of 1936.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} In October 1937, he became chief priest (''saishu'') of the [[Ise Shrine]], upon the death of his half-brother, Prince Kuni Taka.

Prince Nashimoto retired from the active list aged 70 in 1944. He served as president of the Imperial Association, the honorary president of the Franco-Japanese Society, the Japan Forestry Association, the Japan Agricultural Association, the Imperial Air-Association, the Japan Martial Arts Association, and the Italian Society of Japan.

==Post war==
On 2 December 1945, [[General (United States)|General]] [[Douglas MacArthur]], the military governor of Japan during the American occupation, ordered the arrest of Prince Nashimoto as a [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East|"class A" war criminal]], largely for his role in supporting [[State Shinto]]ism (Prince Nashimoto was the chief priest of the [[Ise Grand Shrine|Grand Shrine of Ise]] from 1937 until 1947). Prince Nashimoto was also the second most senior member of the Imperial Family (after [[Prince Kan'in Kotohito]]) during World War II.

The prince's arrest caused great consternation among the Japanese, as it opened the possibility that Emperor Shōwa and more senior members of the imperial household might also face prosecution for war crimes. Few people on either side regarded Prince Nashimoto as more than a symbol, but he was regarded more as a hostage to ensure Emperor Shōwa's compliance with American-directed political reforms.{{according to whom|date=November 2024}} After four months' imprisonment in Tokyo's [[Sugamo Prison]], American authorities released him without charges on 13 April 1946. By action of the reconstituted [[Imperial Household Council]], Prince and Princess Nashimoto were divested of their imperial status and became commoners on 14 October 1947.

However, unlike other former members of the Japanese imperial family, the [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers|American Occupation authorities (SCAP)]] [[Purge (occupied Japan)|purge]]d former Prince Nashimoto allegedly because of his military career, denying him any compensation for the loss of his title and properties. [[Bombing of Tokyo|American bombing raids]] had already destroyed his Tokyo residence, and he was forced to sell his country villa to pay taxes. He spent his last years in poverty, unlike many other former nobles with more extensive war records.

The former prince died of a heart attack on 2 January 1951 at the age of 76. His widow, former Princess Nashimoto Itsuko, maintained close ties to the Imperial Household until her death in August 1976. She published her memoirs under the title ''Nashimoto-no-miya Itsuko-ohi Nikki'' (''The Memoirs of Princess Nashimoto Itsuko'') in 1972.

==Honours==
* {{flag|Qing dynasty}}: [[Order of the Double Dragon]], Class I Grade II, ''20 May 1903''<ref name="Seitoku">{{cite book|author=刑部芳則|title=明治時代の勲章外交儀礼|url=http://meijiseitoku.org/pdf/f54-5.pdf|year=2017|publisher=明治聖徳記念学会紀要|language=ja|page=161}}</ref>
* {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}: Honorary Grand Cross of the [[Royal Victorian Order]], ''7 June 1909''<ref name="LG-28260-4571">[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28260/page/4571 ''The London Gazette''], issue 28260, p. 4571</ref>
* {{flagcountry|French Third Republic}}: Grand Cross of the [[Legion of Honour]], ''22 July 1908''<ref name="Seitoku"/>
* {{flagcountry|Restoration (Spain)}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of Charles III]], ''July 1909''<ref name="Seitoku"/>
* {{flag|Austria-Hungary}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary|Order of St. Stephen]], ''1909''<ref>[http://tornai.com/rendtagok.htm "A Szent István Rend tagjai"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222022855/http://tornai.com/rendtagok.htm|date=22 December 2010}}</ref>

==References==
{{commons category|Prince Nashimoto Morimasa}}
{{Reflist}}
*{{cite book 
 | last = Dupuy 
 | first = Trevor N. 
 | author-link = Trevor Dupuy 
 | year = 1992 
 | title = Encyclopedia of Military Biography 
 | publisher = I B Tauris & Co Ltd 
 | isbn = 1-85043-569-3 
 | url-access = registration 
 | url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmi0000dupu 
 }}
*{{cite book
 | last = Jansen, Marius B.
 | author-link = Marius Jansen
 | year = 2000
 | title = The Making of Modern Japan
 | url = https://archive.org/details/makingofmodernja00jans| url-access = registration| publisher = Belknap Press
 | isbn = 9780674003347
 }} {{ISBN|9780674003347}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44090600  OCLC 44090600]
*{{cite book
 | last = Lebra 
 | first = Sugiyama Takie
 | year = 1995
 | title = Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility 
 | publisher = University of California Press 
 | isbn = 0-520-07602-8
}}
*{{cite book
 | last = Minear
 | first = Richard
 | author-link = Richard Minear
 | year = 2001
 | title = Victors' Justice: The Tokyo War Crimes Trial
 | publisher = University of Michigan
 | isbn = 1-929280-06-8
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nashimoto Morimasa, Prince}}
[[Category:1874 births]]
[[Category:1951 deaths]]
[[Category:People of the Meiji era]]
[[Category:École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni]]
[[Category:Marshals of Japan]]
[[Category:Japanese princes]]
[[Category:Nashimoto-no-miya|Morimasa]]
[[Category:Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II]]
[[Category:Japanese prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War]]
[[Category:Japanese Shintoists]]
[[Category:20th-century Shintoists]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary]]
[[Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]]
[[Category:Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Nobility from Kyoto]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States military]]