Eishō

, posthumously honoured as , was the consort of Emperor Kōmei of Japan.

Early life

As the daughter of Hisatada Kujō, who was a former kampaku, Asako Kujō could anticipate a life unfolding entirely within the ambit of the imperial court; but she could not have anticipated the vast array of changes which the years would bring during her lifetime. At age 13, she was matched with Osahito. Upon the death of Emperor Ninkō in 1846, Osahito, who succeeded him as Emperor Kōmei, named her Nyōgo, a consort position of high honor to which princesses of the blood were appointed after the time of Emperor Kammu.

Consort Asako had two daughters, who both died in infancy; but she became the official mother of Emperor Kōmei's heir, Crown Prince Mutsuhito, later Emperor Meiji. He developed a strong emotional attachment to her, which became especially important in the unsettled period after Emperor Kōmei died unexpectedly.

Empress dowager Soon after the death of Emperor Kōmei, his successor Emperor Meiji conferred upon her the title of empress dowager; and she was given a posthumous name to go with her new title. This was a highly unusual gesture; and she was afterward known as . This specific posthumous name was taken from the title of a poem, "Purple Wisteria over a Deep Pool," by a Tang dynasty poet; and it was deemed inappropriate for a daughter of the Kujō family as part of the Fujiwara ("Wisteria Field") clan. When the Meiji imperial court relocated from Kyoto to Tokyo, she followed, living first in the Akasaka Palace and then in the Aoyama Palace.

Franz Eckert composed "Trauermarsch" ("Deep mourning" funeral march or "Kanashimi no kiwami") for the funeral of Empress Dowager Eishō.

Emperor Meiji and his wife could not attend the funeral, but they traveled to Kyoto to pay graveside respects in the spring after her death.

Ancestry