Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni | |
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Native name | 東久邇宮稔彦王 |
Born |
Kyoto, Japan |
3 December 1887
Died | 20 January 1990 Tokyo, Japan |
(aged 102)
Alma mater |
Imperial Japanese Army Academy Army War College |
Occupation |
Imperial Prince General |
Spouse(s) | Toshiko, Princess Yasu |
Parents |
|
Prince Higashikuni | |
Tenure | 3 November 1906 – 14 October 1947 |
Head of House of Higashikuni | |
Tenure | 3 November 1906 – 20 January 1990 |
43rd Prime Minister of Japan | |
In office | 17 August 1945 – 9 October 1945 |
Predecessor | Kantarō Suzuki |
Successor | Kijūrō Shidehara |
Issue |
Morihiro Higashikuni Moromasa Higashikuni Akitsune Higashikuni Toshihiko Higashikuni |
Military career | |
Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
Service/branch | Imperial Japanese Army |
Years of service | 1908–1945 |
Rank | General |
Commands held | IJA 4th Division, Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, IJA 2nd Army, General Defense Command |
Battles/wars |
Second Sino-Japanese War Pacific War |
Awards |
Order of the Chrysanthemum Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers, Order of the Golden Kite |
Other work | Prime Minister of Japan |
Signature | |
General Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni (東久邇宮稔彦王 Higashikuni-no-miya Naruhiko Ō?, 3 December 1887 – 20 January 1990) was a Japanese imperial prince, a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 43rd 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 Higashikuni was the only member of the Japanese imperial family to head a cabinet and was the last general officer of the Imperial Japanese military to become Prime Minister. He was the founder of the Chiba Institute of Technology.
Prince Naruhiko was born in Kyoto, the ninth son of Prince Kuni Asahiko (Kuni no miya Asahiko Shinnō) and the court lady Terao Utako. His father, Prince Asahiko, was a son of Prince Fushimi Kuniie (Fushimi no miya Kuniie Shinnō), the twentieth head of the Fushimi-no-miya, the oldest of the sesshu shinnōke or cadet branches of the imperial dynasty from whom an emperor might be chosen in default of a direct heir. Prince Naruhiko was a half-brother of Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi, the father of the future Empress Kōjun, the wife of Emperor Hirohito. His other half-brothers, Prince Asaka Yasuhiko, Prince Nashimoto Morimasa, and Prince Kaya Kuninori, all formed new branches of the imperial family (ōke) during the Meiji period.