Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu

was the third son of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako) and a younger brother of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). He became heir to the Takamatsu-no-miya (formerly Arisugawa-no-miya), one of the four shinnōke or branches of the imperial family entitled to inherit the Chrysanthemum Throne in default of a direct heir. From the mid-1920s until the end of World War II, Prince Takamatsu pursued a career in the Japanese Imperial Navy, eventually rising to the rank of captain. Following the war, the prince became patron or honorary president of various organizations in the fields of international cultural exchange, the arts, sports, and medicine. He is mainly remembered for his philanthropic activities as a member of the Imperial House of Japan.

Early life

Nobuhito was born at the Aoyama Palace in Tokyo to then-Crown Prince Yoshihito and Crown Princess Sadako. His childhood appellation was Teru-no-miya (Prince Teru). Like his elder brothers, Prince Hirohito and Prince Yasuhito, he attended the boy's elementary and secondary departments of the Peers' School (Gakushuin). When Prince Arisugawa Takehito (1862–1913), the tenth head of the collateral imperial house of Arisugawa-no-miya, died without a male heir, Emperor Taishō placed Prince Nobuhito in the house. The name of the house reverted to the original Takamatsu-no-miya. Recipient of the Royal Victorian Chain, conferred in 1930, revoked in 1942. Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword (1930) Grand Cross of the Order of the White Lion (1931)

Ancestry

Patrilineal descent

Imperial House of Japan

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 Kōkō, 830–867 Emperor Uda, 867–931 Emperor Daigo, 885–930 Emperor Murakami, 926–967 Emperor En'yū, 959–991 Emperor Ichijō, 980–1011 Emperor Go-Suzaku, 1009–1045 Emperor Go-Sanjō, 1034–1073 Emperor Shirakawa, 1053–1129 Emperor Horikawa, 1079–1107 Emperor Toba, 1103–1156 Emperor Go-Shirakawa, 1127–1192 Emperor Takakura, 1161–1181 Emperor Go-Toba, 1180–1239 Emperor Tsuchimikado, 1196–1231 Emperor Go-Saga, 1220–1272 Emperor Go-Fukakusa, 1243–1304 Emperor Fushimi, 1265–1317 Emperor Go-Fushimi, 1288–1336 Emperor Kōgon, 1313–1364 Emperor Sukō, 1334–1398 Prince Yoshihito Fushimi, 1351–1416 Prince Sadafusa Fushimi, 1372–1456 Emperor Go-Hanazono, 1419–1471 Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado, 1442–1500 Emperor Go-Kashiwabara, 1464–1526 Emperor Go-Nara, 1495–1557 Emperor Ōgimachi, 1517–1593 Prince Masahito, 1552–1586 Emperor Go-Yōzei, 1572–1617 Emperor Go-Mizunoo, 1596–1680 Emperor Reigen, 1654–1732 Emperor Higashiyama, 1675–1710 Prince Naohito Kanin, 1704–1753 Prince Sukehito Kanin, 1733–1794 Emperor Kōkaku, 1771–1840 Emperor Ninkō, 1800–1846 Emperor Kōmei, 1831–1867 Emperor Meiji, 1852–1912 Emperor Taishō, 1879–1926 Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu