PREDECESSORS AND SHORT HISTORY:
The Arisugawa-no-miya is one of the shinnōke,
branches of the Imperial
Family of Japan which were eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum
Throne in the event that the main line should die out. The
Arisugawa-no-miya house was founded by HIH Prince Takamatsu Yoshihito,
seventh son of HIM
Emperor
GO YOZEI, 107th Emperor of Japan, and was
originally named Takamatsu-no-miya. The house
changed its name to Arisugawa-no-miya after its 2nd head, Prince
Nagahito was elevated to the throne as Emperor Go-Sai. The
Arisugawa-no-miya house traditionally served as instructors in
calligraphy and tanka poetry
to successive generations of Emperors, but
after the Meiji restoration, they played important roles in the early
Japanese military. The Imperial house of Arisugawa became extinct in
1913, but was revived by the Emperor Taishō in 1924, in favour of his
third son, HIH Prince Takamatsu Nobuhito (1905 - 1987), reverting to
its original name of Takamatsu-no-miya. The ancestor
and title holders of this family was ...
- HIH Prince Takamatsu Yoshihito (originally called
Takamatsu-no-miya
Yoshihito Shinnō), 1st Prince Takamatsu-no-miya [cr.1625], (later
changed
to Arisugawa-no-miya), born 29th April 1603 in Kyoto, married 24th
January
1631 in Edo, Princess Matsudaira Yasuko, born 12th May 1617 in Edo,
died
7th March 1681, and had issue. He died 14th July 1638 (1640) in Kyoto.
- HIH Princess Arisugawa Akiko, born 12th November 1633 in
Kyoto, married
1651 in Kyoto, HIM Emperor GO SAI, and had issue. She died 2nd August
1680
in Kyoto.
- HIH Prince Arisugawa Yukihito, 3rd Prince
Arisugawa-no-miya (qv)
- HIM Emperor GO SAI [Yoshihito, Prince
Takamatsu-no-miya Nagahito
Shinnō], 2nd Prince Takamatsu-no-miya 1647/1654, on his accession to
the
throne, the title fell into abeyance until 1667.
- HIH Prince Arisugawa Yukihito, [Arisugawa-no-miya
Yukihito Shinnō] 3rd Prince
Arisugawa-no-miya 1667/1699,
born 9th April 1656 (1654) in Kyoto, married and had issue. He died
20th
August 1699 in Kyoto.
- HIH Princess Arisugawa Yukiko, born 3rd November 1681 in
Kyoto, married
17th March 1697 in Kyoto, HIM Emperor HIGASHIYAMA, 113th Emperor of
Japan,
received the title of Nyôgo on her marriage, declared Empress
with
the title of Chûgû in 1708, and had issue. She died 18th
March
1720 in Kyoto.
- HIH Prince Arisugawa Tadahito, 4th Prince
Arisugawa-no-miya (qv)
- HIH Prince Arisugawa Tadahito, [Arisugawa-no-miya
Tadahito Shinnō] 4th Prince
Arisugawa-no-miya 1699/1716,
6th March 1694 in Kyoto, died sp 24th November 1716.
- HIH Prince Arisugawa Yorihito, [Arisugawa-no-miya
Yorihito Shinnō] 5th Prince
Arisugawa-no-miya 1716/1769,
born 28th October 1713 in Kyoto, 16th son of HIM Emperor REIGEN,
married
27th December 1727, Nijo Atsuko, born 24th July 1713 in Kyoto, died
19th
September 1774 in Kyoto, and had issue. He died 19th November 1769 in
Kyoto.
- HIH Prince Arisugawa Orihito [Arisugawa-no-miya
Orihito Shinnō] 6th Prince
Arisugawa-no-miya 1769/1820, born 1755, died 1820.
- HIH Prince
Arisugawa Tsunahito [Arisugawa-no-miya Tsunahito Shinnō] 7th
Prince
Arisugawa-no-miya 1820/1845, born 1784, married and had issue. He died
2nd April 1845.
- HIH Prince
Arisugawa Takahito (qv)
- HIH Prince
Arisugawa Takahito, [Arisugawa-no-miya Takahito Shinnō] 8th Prince
Arisugawa-no-miya 1845/1871 (resigned as head in favour of his son on
9th September 1871), born 17th March 1813 in Kyoto, he served as Chief
of the Jingikan (Department
of Shinto Affairs) after the Meiji restoration; he was a master of
calligraphy and waka poetry
using the pen name of Shozan;
he supplied many inscriptions for various temples and shrines and the
official copy of the Meiji Charter Oath was in his handwriting, he
married 1stly, Saeki Yūko, died 1st December 1841, eldest daughter of
Saeki
Yūjō,
married 2ndly, 2nd June 1848, Princess Hiroko, born 1819, died 1875,
daughter
of Sadaijin Nijō Narinobu, married 3rdly, Mori Noriko, died 1902, and
had issue, four sons and four daughters. He died 24th January 1886 in
Tokyo.
- HIH Prince Arisugawa Taruhito (by Yūko) (qv)
- HIH Princess Arisugawa Toshiko, born 21st May 1858 in
Kyoto,
married 6th October
1872, HIH Prince Fushimi Sadanaru, 22nd Prince Fushimi-no-miya,
and had issue. She died 3rd January 1930 in Tokyo (#1).
- HIH Prince Arisugawa Takehito (by Noriko) (qv)
 Hon. Field Marshal HIH
Prince
Arisugawa Taruhito [Arisugawa-no-miya Taruhito Shinnō], 9th
Prince
Arisugawa-no-miya 1871/1895, born 13th March 1835 in Kyoto, adopted by
Emperor Ninko to whom he became a close advisor; he was the first
recipient of the Collar of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum;
he was appointed sosai
(Chief Minister) in 1867, fought at the Battle of
Toba-Fushimi, commanded the Imperial Army during the Boshin War
1868/1869, commanded the central government army during the Satsuma
Rebellion in 1877; raised to the honourary rank of Field Marshal in
1878, served as dajodaijin or
lord
president of the Council of State 1870/1885, appointed governor of
Fukuoka in 1871, official Imperial envoy to Russia in 1882, chief of
staff of the Imperial Japanese
Army and a member of the Supreme War Council 1889/1895, officially
commander-in-chief of Japanese forces in the First
Sino-Japanese War in 1894; engaged 8th August 1851 (cancelled), to HIH
Princess Kazu-no-Miya
Chikako, eighth daughter of Emperor Ninko, married 1stly, HIH Princess
Tokugawa Sadako, born 1850, died sp
1872, eleventh daughter of HIH Prince Tokugawa
Nariaki, daimyo of Mito, married 2ndly, Mizoguchi Tadako, born 12th may
1855,
died sp 1923, daughter of
Count Mizoguchi Naohiro, the former
daimyo of Shibata. He
died sp 15th
January 1895 at the Arisugawa palace at Maiko near Kobe, and recieved a
state funeral in Tokyo on 24th January 1895.
 Hon. Fleet
Admiral HIH Prince Arisugawa Takehito,
[Arisugawa-no-miya
Takehito Shinnō] 10th Prince
Arisugawa-no-miya
1895/1913, born 13th January 1862 in Kyoto; educated at the Imperial
Japanese Naval Academy in 1874, trained on HMS Iron Duke of the British
Royal Navy in 1879; attended the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in
England as a cadet in 1881; toured extensively in Europe and America in
1889, represented the Meiji Emperor at the Diamond Jubilee celebrations
for Queen Victoria in 1896, represented the Meiji Emperor at the
wedding of the Crown Prince of Germany in 1905, he commanded the
cruiser Matsushima, and subsequently the Hashidate, in the First
Sino-Japanese War 1894/1895, Rear Admiral [11.11.1896], Admiral
[28.6.1905], Fleet Admiral (Hon.) [2.7.1913]; he was awarded the Knight
Grand Cross of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, Order of the
Golden Kite (3rd Class), Collar of the Supreme Order of the
Chrysanthemum (the latter was awarded posthumously); married 11th
December 1880, HIH Princess
Maeda Yasuko,
born 15th March 1864, died 30th June 1923, fourth daughter of Maeda
Yoshiyasu, the last daimyo of Kaga Province, and had issue, one son and
two daughters. He died spm 4th July 1913 in Tokyo, when this
branch of the family became extinct.
- HIH Princess Arisugawa Isako, born 17th October 1885,
died 30th September 1886.
- HIH Prince Arisugawa Tanehito, born 1887, died unmarried vpsp
1908.
- HIH Princess Arisugawa Miyeko, born 14th February 1891,
married 8th
November
1908, HIH Prince Tokugawa Yoshihisa, died
1922, and had issue. She died 1933.
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