Setsuko, Princess Chichibu
Template:Short description Template:Infobox royalty
Script error: No such module "Nihongo". was a member of the Japanese imperial family and the wife of Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu, the second son of Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei. Setsuko was a sister-in-law of Emperor Shōwa and an aunt by marriage of Emperor Akihito.
Early life
Setsuko Matsudaira was born on 9 September 1909 in Walton-on-Thames, England, into the prominent Matsudaira family.[1][2] Her father, Tsuneo Matsudaira, was a diplomat and politician who later served as the Japanese ambassador to the United States (1924) and later to United Kingdom (1928), and still later, Imperial Household Minister (1936–45, 1946–47). Her mother, Nobuko Nabeshima, was a member of the Nabeshima family. Her paternal grandfather, Katamori Matsudaira, was the last daimyō of the Aizu Domain and head of the Aizu-Matsudaira cadet branch of the Tokugawa. Her maternal grandfather, Marquis Naohiro Nabeshima, was the former daimyō of the Saga Domain. Her mother's elder sister, Itsuko (1882–1976), married Prince Morimasa Nashimoto, an uncle of Empress Kōjun. Despite her prestigious heritage, Setsuko was technically born a commoner, but both sides of her family maintained kinship with distinguished kazoku aristocratic families close to the Japanese Imperial Family.
From 1925 to 1928, Setsuko was educated at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. while her father was ambassador to the United States.[3] Setsuko was fluent in English and was sometimes considered to be a Kikokushijo. Upon her return to Japan, Setsuko was chosen by Empress Teimei to marry her second son, Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu, despite the fact she was a commoner.[4] Setsuko married the Prince after her uncle, Viscount Morio Matsudaira, formally adopted her, thus removing the status incongruity between the prince and his bride.[5]
Marriage
On 28 September 1928, aged 19, Setsuko wed Prince Chichibu, and became Princess Chichibu.[6][7][8] The bride and groom were eighth cousins, thrice removed, as both were descended from Nabeshima Katsushige, the first lord of Saga.[9] Prince and Princess Chichibu had no children, as Princess Chichibu's only pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. However, by all accounts their marriage was filled with love and happiness for each other.[10][11]
In 1937, the prince and princess were sent on a tour of Western Europe which took several months.[10] They represented Japan at the May 1937 coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Westminster Abbey and subsequently visited Sweden and the Netherlands as the guests of King Gustav V and Queen Wilhelmina, respectively. Princess Chichibu stayed in Switzerland while her husband met Adolf Hitler in Nuremberg at the end of the trip.[12] Princess Chichibu felt a great love for the United States and for the United Kingdom and, as an anglophile, was greatly saddened by Japan's entry into the Second World War on the side of the Axis powers.[13][14]
Widowhood
After the Prince's death of tuberculosis in 1953,[15] Princess Chichibu became president of the Society for the Prevention of Tuberculosis, honorary president of the Britain-Japan Society, the Sweden-Japan Society, and an honorary vice president of the Japanese Red Cross[16] The Princess made several semi-official visits to Great Britain and Sweden.
Death
Princess Chichibu died from heart failure in Tokyo on 25 August 1995, shortly before her 86th birthday.[17][18] Princess Chichibu's autobiography, which was published posthumously as The Silver Drum: A Japanese Imperial Memoir, was translated into English by Dorothy Britton.[19]
Honours
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown, 1st Class - 1928[8]
- Template:Country data United Kingdom: Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George
Ancestry
Patrilineal descent
Template:Chart top Setsuko's patriline is the line from which she is descended father to son.
The existence of a verifiable link between the Nitta clan and the Tokugawa/Matsudaira clan remains somewhat in dispute.
- Descent prior to Keitai is unclear to modern historians, but traditionally traced back patrilineally to Emperor Jimmu
- Emperor Keitai, ca. 450–534
- Emperor Kinmei, 509–571
- Emperor Bidatsu, 538–585
- Prince Oshisaka, ca. 556–???
- Emperor Jomei, 593–641
- Emperor Tenji, 626–671
- Prince Shiki, ????–716
- Emperor Kōnin, 709–786
- Emperor Kanmu, 737–806
- Emperor Saga, 786–842
- Emperor Ninmyō, 810–850
- Emperor Montoku 826–858
- Emperor Seiwa, 850–881
- Prince Sadazumi, 873–916
- Minamoto no Tsunemoto, 894–961
- Minamoto no Mitsunaka, 912–997
- Minamoto no Yorinobu, 968–1048
- Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, 988–1075
- Minamoto no Yoshiie, 1039–1106
- Minamoto no Yoshikuni, 1091–1155
- Minamoto no Yoshishige, 1114–1202
- Nitta Yoshikane, 1139–1206
- Nitta Yoshifusa, 1162–1195
- Nitta Masayoshi, 1187–1257
- Nitta Masauji, 1208–1271
- Nitta Motouji, 1253–1324
- Nitta Tomouji, 1274–1318
- Nitta Yoshisada, 1301–1338
- Nitta Yoshimune, 1331?–1368
- Tokugawa Chikasue?, ????–???? (speculated)
- Tokugawa Arichika, ????–????
- Matsudaira Chikauji, d. 1393?
- Matsudaira Yasuchika, ????–14??
- Matsudaira Nobumitsu, c. 1404–1488/89?
- Matsudaira Chikatada, 1430s–1501
- Masudaira Nagachika, 1473–1544
- Matsudaira Nobutada, 1490–1531
- Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, 1511–1536
- Matsudaira Hirotada, 1526–1549
- Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1st Tokugawa Shōgun (1543–1616)
- Tokugawa Yorifusa, 1st Lord of Mito (1603–1661)
- Matsudaira Yorishige, 1st Lord of Takamatsu (1622–1695)
- Matsudaira Yoriyuki (1661–1687)
- Matsudaira Yoritoyo, 3rd Lord of Takamatsu (1680–1735)
- Tokugawa Munetaka, 4th Lord of Mito (1705–1730)
- Tokugawa Munemoto, 5th Lord of Mito (1728–1766)
- Tokugawa Harumori, 6th Lord of Mito (1751–1805)
- Matsudaira Yoshinari, 9th Lord of Takasu (1776–1832)
- Matsudaira Yoshitatsu, 10th Lord of Takasu (1800–1862)
- Matsudaira Katamori, 9th Lord of Aizu (1836–1893)
- Tsuneo Matsudaira, (1877–1949)
- Setsuko Matsudaira, (1909–1995)
Footnotes
References
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Available only at the NDL and its partner libraries or to official registered users in Japan.
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- Script error: No such module "Nihongo".. "Announcement by Naimushō #256 - Decorations and appointments (Shōkunkyoku) – as of 28 September Shōwa 3rd (1928); Princess Setsuko of Prince Chichibunomiya Yasuhito – Appointed to the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown (1st class). " p. 746 (plate number 0005.jp2)
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- ** Tanaka "Script error: No such module "Nihongo".". pp. 20–24 (plate number 0012.jp2-)
Further reading
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Template:NCID.
- Chichibunomiya Setsuko; Shirasu, Masako Script error: No such module "Nihongo".; Asō, Kazuko Script error: No such module "Nihongo".. (April 1951). "Script error: No such module "Nihongo".. Fujin kōron vol. 37, no.4, pp56-65. Chūōkōron Shinsha, Template:NAID.
- Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- Chichibunomiya Setsuko. (February 1976) "Script error: No such module "Nihongo".". Bungei shunjū, vol. 54, issue 2, pp.p282-300, Bungeishunjū, Template:NAID.
- Script error: No such module "Nihongo". Script error: No such module "Nihongo".. Toshio Uyeno, 1987. Template:NCID.
- Script error: No such module "Nihongo".. Script error: No such module "Nihongo".. Asahi Newspaper, 1995, "Asahi news shop series #031", Template:NCID.
- Princess Chichibu. The Silver Drum: A Japanese Imperial Memoir. Folkestone, Global Books Ltd.(distribution, UK) (May 1996). Trans. Dorothy Britton. Template:ISBN
- Prince and Princess Chichibu : two lives lived above and below the clouds. Rev. and expanded 2nd ed. Folkestone, Global Books Ltd.(distribution, UK) (2010). Trans. Britton, Dorothy. Template:ISBN. Including a complete translation of Setsuko, Princess Chichibu's memoir The silver drum.
- Ema, Shuichi. Chichibu no Miya Hi Setsuko no shogai. Kaibushiki Kaisha Kuppon (1996). Template:ISBN (Japanese)
- Lebra, Sugiyama Takie. Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility. University of California Press (1995). Template:ISBN
- Fujitani, T. Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan. University of California Press; Reprint edition (1998). Template:ISBN
- Script error: No such module "Nihongo". (May 2002). Rekishi dokuhon, vol.47, no.5, pp. 11–13, Shinjinbutsu Ōrai-sha, Template:NAID.
External links
- Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Chichibu at the Imperial Household Agency website
- "The Silver Drum"
- "Floribunda Roses"
Template:Japanese princesses by marriage Template:Authority control
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- Pages with script errors
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- 1909 births
- 1995 deaths
- Japanese princesses
- People from Walton-on-Thames
- Nobility from Tokyo
- Sidwell Friends School alumni
- Aizu-Matsudaira clan
- Opposition to World War II
- Anti–World War II activists
- Grand Cordons (Imperial Family) of the Order of the Precious Crown
- Honorary Dames Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Honorary Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
- Princesses by marriage
- Pages with reference errors