Tuesday 7 December 2004
Nagako, Japan's Ferocious Dowager Empress
Dowager Empress Nagako was the wife
of Emperor Hirohito and the mother of Japan’s current Emperor, Akihito. When she died, only four years ago at the age of
97, she was also the longest living empress consort in Japanese
history. She was Crown Princess from 1924 to 1926, Empress from 1925 to 1989, and Empress
Dowager from 1989 to 2000. In short, she was
close to the throne for 76 years!
The Early Years
She was born on March 6, 1903, Tokyo, the eldest daughter of Prince Kuni who headed one
of the eleven cadet branches of the Imperial Family. Her father, a descendent of a 13th
century emperor, was the last of his line. And she, in turn, was the last imperial
princess to marry into the Japanese Imperial Family.
Her engagement to her distant cousin, then-Crown Prince
Hirohito, was unusual for several reasons. For one thing, Princess Nagako had been chosen,
in 1914, when she was only eleven years old. According to historian Jeffrey W. Taliaferro,
it occurred as follows:
On 14 January 1914, the Empress
Sadako invited a number of aristocratic and royal girls to tea at the Concubines' Pavilion
at the Imperial Palace,
while Crown Prince Hirohito cast his eye upon them, hidden behind a sliding screen. He
selected the princess as his future bride.
http://www.geocities.com/jtaliaferro.geo/showa.html
Age was a minor issue as compared to the Nagako’s
lineage. The simple fact is that Nagako didn’t have the background of most imperial
consorts. She may have had a royal father but he came from a very minor offshoot of the
Imperial Family. Her mother’s background wasn’t much help either, because Lady
Shimazu Chikako descended from feudal nobility, as opposed to one of the illustrious
aristocratic court families. But the real issue was the Fujiwara factor: for centuries,
almost all the Japanese emperors and crown princes had married women from the powerful
Fujiwara clan.
The Fujiwara dynasty was one of the most illustrious
families in all Japan and, in some
ways, was almost like the de facto imperial family. The reason for this is that
they were always chosen to act as imperial regents or Kanpaku. Lest you think this was an
occasional position due to an emergency involving the Emperor, let me assure you it
wasn’t. The Fujiwara clan had acted as “regents” to Emperors who were young
and old, incapable and perfectly capable. In short, they served as the real emperors and
purveyors of power, behind the scenes, while the titular ruler was just a ceremonial
figurehead. http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Nagako
Thus, despite
Nagako’s impeccable lineage, hot debate raged over her eligibility to become the wife
of a crown prince who, upon ascension to the throne, would be revered as a “living
God.” Adding to the controversy was
political intrigue at the highest level.
One of the most
powerful men in Japan came forward to allege that the princess was colorblind,
thus making her ineligible on genetic grounds to take a place in the imperial line. Field
Marshal Yamagata headed a
samurai clan that was a rival to Nagako’s mother’s family and he wanted the
Crown Prince to choose a bride from his own clan.
Yamagata, the principal architect of the
Imperial Japanese Army and arguably the most powerful man in late Meiji and Taisho Japan, vehemently opposed the engagement for
seven years. In 1919, Yamagata arranged the publication of a medical
journal article, which alleged a history of color-blindness in the family of the
princess's mother, the Shimazu of Satsuma. This alleged hereditary malady, he argued,
would damage the flawlessness of the Imperial bloodline. Prominent newspapers printed the
allegations and Yamagata demanded that the Imperial
Household Ministry annul the engagement.
Prince Kuni vowed to commit suicide and kill
Nagako if the Imperial Household Ministry cancelled the engagement. He allegedly enlisted
the aid of nationalistic Tokyo gangsters to thwart Yamagata. The gangsters organized large
rallies in Tokyo, which denounced the plots
against Princess Nagako as disloyalty to the throne. Emperor Taisho intervened on Nagako's
behalf by dismissing the article on color blindness. "I hear," the emperor told Yamagata, "that even science is
fallible."
http://www.geocities.com/jtaliaferro.geo/showa.html
The
engagement was finally announced on June 19, 1921 by the Imperial Household Ministry, the
IHA’s predecessor. However, the couple did not get married for
several more years. The Princess was still quite young but the main reason was what
happened in 1923, the year the imperial wedding was supposed to take place. That year, a huge earthquake destroyed half of Tokyo, killing 10,000 people. The wedding was delayed once
again.
All during this time, Nagako was being groomed for her
new position. In 1914, within a
month being chosen by the Empress and Crown Prince, Nagako left school. She began
receiving years of
private instruction to assist
her in her role as the future empress. She was taught: Chinese and Japanese literature, French,
calligraphy, poetry composition, needlework, flower
arrangement.and the intricacies of court
etiquette, all under the direction of seven tutors. During that period, she and crown
prince only met nine times, and never in private. Id.
The wedding finally took place on January 26, 1924. Nagako was 20, her groom, 22.
Less than two years later, on December 25, 1925, Hirohito ascended the throne and she became Empress.
The New Empress
Nagako wasn’t controversial just because she broke
the age-long tradition of Fujiwara family consorts and the fuss surrounding her
engagement. She also caused chatter because of her difficulty in conceiving a male heir.
Under Japan’s succession laws,
only a male can ascend the throne, thereby continuing the family’s unbroken
1500+-year-old line.
Like Crown Princess Masako now, it wasn’t easy for
Empress Nagako to have a male heir. In 1932, Hirohito and Nagako had been married for
eight years but still hadn’t had a boy. Empress Nagako had borne four children, all
girls, of who three had survived. She was pregnant with her fifth child and the court was
in a state of unrest over the future of the succession.
Empress Nagako had a miscarriage in late 1932. The
succession question became so serious that pressure mounted for Emperor Hirohito to take a
concubine. Although the concubine system was banned by post-war measures, this was still
many years before the war. However, Hirohito was deeply opposed to the concubine system,
even though it was as one of the only reasons why Japan had never had problems with the succession, up to that point that is.
Under the concubine system,
rotating teams of part-time mistresses, usually twelve,
assigned to the Emperor by the noble families of Japan's ancient capital, Kyoto. By custom, an emperor dropped a silk handkerchief at
the door of the mistress on duty whenever the problem of his successor crossed his mind.
Resulting children were brought up, not in the Imperial household, but by the families who
had sent their daughters, whose sons thus founded collateral branches of the Imperial line
from which new emperors could descend. At the risk of some inbreeding, concubinage ensured
that a crown prince was almost always available to succeed a deceased emperor.
Murray Sayle, “Sex Saddens A Clever Princess,”
(Japan Policy Research Institute Working Paper No. 66: April 2000) at http://www.jpri.org/publications/workingpapers/wp66.html
The concubine system may have been responsible for prior emperors,
but it wasn’t for Hirohito. While his own father, Taisho, and the Meiji Emperor
before him, were all sons of concubines, Hirohito was the son of Taisho's legal empress.
Furthermore, Hirohito had
abolished concubinage in 1924, the year he married Nagako. One reason was the British
royal family who had greatly impressed him on a visit he made to London. After witnessing their close personal interactions,
Hirohito decided he would try to emulate them and the European system. Hirohito was so
impressed by the West that he also installed a nine-hole golf
course on the Imperial Palace grounds, played tennis, wore Western clothes
on all but the most ceremonial occasions, and ate a proper English breakfast every
morning. Apparently, he developed a taste for eggs and bacon on his tour of England, when Crown Prince.
The royal court couldn’t care less about the Western system,
not when the succession was at stake. After eight years without a male heir, there was
widespread panic among the royal courtiers that the imperial line would be broken. The
Emperor insisted on remaining monogamous but, even so, a senior royal official decided to
find him a concubine. He searched high and low for a proper, and attractive, woman of high
breeding:
Ten princesses were selected of whom
three made the final cut, and one (allegedly the prettiest) was rumoured to have visited
the palace and played cards with Hirohito (in the presence of Nagako). The monogamous
Hirohito supposedly took no further notice of her. In early 1933 Nagako became pregnant
again and on December 3, 1933, she
gave birth to Prince Akihito. The personal crisis was over.
Herbert P. Bix, Hirohito
and the making of modern Japan (Harper Collins 2000), at 271.
The Emperor and Empress eventually had two more children, for a
total of five daughters and two sons. Only two of these children maintained their imperial
status, Crown Prince Akihito and his younger brother Prince Hitachi. The reason can be
traced to post-war changes to the law which sought to decrease the size of the Imperial
Family. Under the 1947 changes, the princesses automatically lost their imperial status
when they married commoners.
As parents, the Imperial couple generally abided by tradition,
albeit with a few big changes triggered by the war. In time-honored imperial fashion,
Prince Akihito, the future emperor, was separated from his parents at about the age of
three and raised by nurses, tutors and chamberlains. Yet in a departure from custom, at
six Akihito was sent to school with commoners in order to broaden him.
The Post-War Years
During the war, the Emperor and Empress remained at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. When
the Americans began bombing Tokyo, the couple sent their children away to the countryside
for safety.
After the war, the Emperor insisted on a Christian
tutor for his heir, Akihito, who was being hailed as the “future hope of
Japan” amidst speculation that the Emperor would abdicate. Always aware of
appearances and PR, Hirohito approved the appointment of an American Quaker, Mrs.
Elizabeth Gray Vining, as his son’s tutor. He was well aware of Quaker pacifism and
what the symbolic ramifications would be given the war and his own reputation. As numerous
historians have made clear, Hirohito was the master of manipulating his image for public
consumption, especially after the war when he reinvented himself completely. See e.g.,
Herbert P. Bix, Hirohito
and the Making of Modern Japan (Harper Collins 2000). Id.
Still, in all fairness to Emperor Hirohito, he seemed truly
concerned about his son’s education. It’s been said that the only potential
candidates whom he ruled out for the position of chief tutor “were bible-thumping
proselytizers of some other Christian sects that were then active in Japan.” Murray Sayle, “Sex Saddens A Clever Princess,” supra. According to one commentator, the Emperor “paid Mrs. Vining US$2,000
a year from his own pocket, at a time when his personal assets were estimated at $70,000
(the Japanese royal family is far from wealthy, by international standards, even to this
day).” Id.
I’m not
sure Mr. Sayle is completely correct in his interpretation of the Emperor’s financial
status. The question of Hirohito’s assets is a complicated one and there are numerous
sources which question the Emperor’s carefully cultivated image of being
impoverished. By many accounts, he was quite wealthy at the time of his death, even though
it wasn’t a millionth of his prior (multi-billion dollar) net worth before the
war. Furthermore, he left a multi-million dollar estate upon his death. Still, the main
point is that the Emperor seemed concerned about his son’s development and took a
personal role in directing his future.
Empress Nagako
went along with it, just as she did with everything her husband said. She was a firm
believer in protocol and in a woman’s submission to the more important man in the
relationship. Especially if he was the Emperor. Nagako was always “keenly attuned to
court customs, and always showed a subject's deference to the emperor, maintaining a
modest presence.” “Japan’s Dowager Empress Dies,” BBC, (June
16, 2000) at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/793352.stm. In fact, it been said
that the Empress’ hide-bound observation of protocol and gender roles was one of the
things which made her resent and dislike her daughter-in-law, Michiko, whom she felt took
too many liberties and shone beyond the Crown Prince.
But we will get to that later….
After the war, the
occupying powers and the postwar Japanese government sought to demystify the monarchy. It
was all part of the plan to reduce the divine aura of the monarchy, something that had
helped contribute to WWII. In accordance with the two government’s wishes, the
Empress adopted a more public, approachable role. During the American occupation, she
visited orphans, bereaved families and war veterans. She also became the honorary
president of the Japanese Red Cross from 1947 to 1989.
The American
occupational forces and the post-war Japanese government may have intended to strip the
Japanese Imperial Family of their traditions, divine legacy and power, but Empress Nagako
was made of sterner stuff. The day after the American occupation ended, the Empress voiced
her intention to revert back to wearing kimonos in public. She was firmly of the old
school and clung to the old ways.
Despite the Empress’ focus on upholding ancient traditions and
manners, she was nonetheless a trailblazer in smaller, more innocuous ways. For example,
she was the first Japanese imperial consort to travel abroad. She accompanied Emperor
Hirohito on his European tour in 1971 and later on his state visit to the United States in 1975. On those trips, she became
known for her classical elegance and her “empress smile.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/793352.stm
In her private life,
the Empress was an accomplished painter, calligrapher and poet. Under the pseudonym To-en, or “Peach
Garden,” she created a number of traditional Japanese-style paintings, specializing
in still life and landscapes. She presented a painting of grapes to Britain's Queen
Elizabeth II when the imperial couple visited that country in 1971. See, “Imperial family loses witness to century's
turbulent events,” (hereinafter referred to as “Imperial Family loses”)
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0XPQ/is_2000_June_19/ai_62835986
But there was a dark side to the Empress. Her image as a devoted
wife, talented artist and poet, and the warm-hearted granny of her later years stands in
sharp contrast to the frequent rumours regarding her harsh treatment of her
daughter-in-law, Michiko, the current Empress. Michiko was the first commoner ever to
marry an Emperor, in a marriage that was a huge break from tradition.
The Empress, who was often described as “ferocious,”
probably did not let Michiko forget her common background. The simple fact of the matter
is that Nagako – and the IHA (Imperial Household Agency) – were horrified by
Akihito’s choice. A royal aide to the Emperor described the Empress’ reaction in
his diary entry for Oct. 11, 1958, shortly
before Michiko was officially picked as the bride. According
to the royal aide, the Empress talked to Princesses Chichibu and Takamatsu, her
sisters-in-law, about the situation and cried out “something to the effect that it is
outrageous” to choose a commoner. See, “Imperial family loses,” supra.
It’s been widely rumoured that the Empress tried to stop the
engagement with all her might, but she didn’t succeed in changing her son’s
mind. The Japanese people, however, rejoiced over the marriage and saw it as a welcome
move that brought the Imperial Family closer to the people.
The couple set up house in the Togu Gosho, the Crown Prince's
unpretentious residence half a mile from the Imperial Palace. But reports
continued to seep out that Empress Nagako resented the intrusion of a commoner into the
family. See, Michael Walsh, “Akihito: The son also rises,” Time
Magazine (January 16, 1989)(archived text not available online).
The situation was exacerbated when, in another break with tradition,
Akihito and Michiko chose to raise their three children at home. Empress Nagako could
barely manage the fact that the new royal was a commoner; the second break from centuries
of tradition was the last straw.
The Empress' disapproval and dislike of the new Crown Princess did
not soften over time. In the early 1960s, the nation watched as then-Crown Princess
Michiko, previously described as “effervescent” and the epitome of womanly
charm, grew gaunt and somber. She even lost her voice for 7 months. It’s unclear if
she couldn’t speak or if she simply didn’t want to but, either way, one thing
was certain: she was no longer the woman she had been before her marriage. Rumours swirled
that she had had a complete nervous breakdown.
All fingers pointed back to Empress Nagako, although it must be said
that she had help from the ever-wonderful IHA. It was only upon Nagako’s death in
2000 that the cause of Michiko’s deterioration was publicly identified: the Reuters
news agency bluntly stated that the Dowager Empress had reportedly bullied her
daughter-in-law into submission and a breakdown. See, http://www.mmjp.or.jp/amlang.atc/worldnow/00/june/17.htm;
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Michiko.
Nagako was truly Japan’s version of China’s
“The Dragon Lady,” or Empress Tzu Hsi. She was imperious, extremely
strong-willed, tough as nails, controlling (behind the scenes), arrogant, unable to relate
to the masses, coldly haughty and royal beyond royal. She was supremely aware of her
imperial lineage in an ever changing world that became more and more modern, that had less
and less regard for the old ways. She had no tolerance for modern or relaxed standards,
even in her own son, let alone his commoner wife. She might have been born in the early
years of the 20th century, but Nagako was a thoroughly 19th century
woman, especially once the royal tutors finished with her.
The Empress often had a wonderful smile for the general public but,
privately, she was haughtily aware of her background and disdainfully contemptuous of even
the smallest restriction on imperial rights. Especially after the war. She took the
Emperor’s forced renunciation of divinity very badly, as shown by letters to her son
at the time.
For all her traditional ways, Nagako essentially played the gender
game and gave lip service to the socially superior male in Japan’s male-dominated society. She acted in a passive and submissive manner
towards her imperial consort, but, at the back of her mind, she always remembered and
heeded her father’s pre-marital advice that Hirohito was a weak vessel whom she was
duty bound to prop up. And so she did. While Hirohito was often indecisive, she forced him
onto to action, at least in the private sphere. Nagako was too much of a product of 19th
century thinking to even try to influence the Emperor in national or political
matters. In all else, however, she held sway.
An intimidating, multi-talented, highly trained and educated
Empress, she was a powerful presence at the Japanese court for decades. And she certainly
seems to have frightened her daughter-in-law into a collapse. Given the grief she herself
was given over her own engagement to Hirohito, the irony is huge….
Nagako’s marriage to Emperor Hirohito lasted 65 years, longer
than any other imperial couple in Japan’s
history. When Hirohito died in 1989, she assumed the title of Empress Dowager. At that
time, she was in failing health herself. Her last public appearance was in 1988. During
her remaining years, she lived a reclusive life at the couple's residence, the Fukiage Palace, looked after by a full, almost medieval imperial court of some 40 court
ladies and medical experts. See, “Imperial family loses,” supra.
In 1995, Nagako became Japan's longest-living empress dowager when she turned 92, surpassing Empress
Kanshi, who died in 1127. At the time of her
death at the age of 97 in 2000 she had been an empress for 75 years. Akihito granted his
mother the posthumous title of Empress Kojun. The Emperor chose the name due to its
meaning which is as follows: “The character for ‘Ko,’ which symbolizes
fragrance or beauty, is a reference to the late Empress's artistic name (Toen or
‘Peace Orchard’). The character for ‘Jun’ refers to the Empress's
kind-hearted personality.” Taliaferro, supra, http://www.geocities.com/jtaliaferro.geo/showa.html
“Kind-hearted”…. Not quite the phrase I would use to
describe the Empress. On a good day, I would opt for The London Times’
description of her as “ferocious;” on a bad day, well…. I’ll let you fill in the blanks….
One thing, however, is undisputed: she was an intimate insider to
some of the most important events of the 20th century. But the Empress was more
than just a passive observer. The Empress might have been a 19th century woman
in terms of upbringing, but she helped to shape the post-war monarchy and she definitely
impacted the current Imperial Family. The Empress didn’t always adapt well to the
changes – and she definitely was a martinet – but she was also one of the best
examples of the multi-layered, dichotomous undercurrents running through the Imperial
Family, their situation, the conflict with the past, and their uneasy adjustment to their
modern, post-war life.
* * *
To my readers: I might be called away next week, so my
column might not appear on Tuesday, December 14th. I will try to juggle things
but it might be delayed until the following week, December 21st. In the
meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. Until next time, …..
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