Enthronement 10 November 1915 Mother Ikuko Noma (concubine) | Father Michitaka Kujo Name Empress Teimei | |
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Tenure 30 July 1912 –25 December 1926 Burial 22 June 1951Musashi Imperial Graveyard, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan Issue Hirohito, Emperor ShowaYasuhito, Prince ChichibuNobuhito, Prince TakamatsuTakahito, Prince Mikasa Died May 17, 1951, Omiya Palace, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan Spouse Emperor Taisho (m. 1900–1926) Children Hirohito, Takahito, Prince Mikasa, Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu, Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu Parents Ikuko Noma, Kujo Michitaka Similar People Emperor Taisho, Hirohito, Empress Kojun, Takahito - Prince Mikasa, Empress Shoken | ||
Empress Teimei (貞明皇后, Teimei-kogo, 25 June 1884 – 17 May 1951) was empress consort of Emperor Taisho of Japan. Born Sadako Kujo (九条節子, Kujo Sadako), she was the mother of Emperor Showa. Her posthumous name, Teimei, means "enlightened constancy".
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Biography
Sadako Kujo was born on 25 June 1884 in Tokyo, as the fourth daughter of Duke Michitaka Kujo, head of Kujo branch of the Fujiwara clan. Her mother was Ikuko Noma.
She married then-Crown Prince Yoshihito (the future Emperor Taisho) on 25 May 1900. The couple lived in the newly constructed Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, outside of the main Tokyo Imperial Palace complex. When she gave birth to a son, Prince Hirohito (the future Emperor Showa) in 1901, she was the first official wife of a Crown Prince or Emperor to have given birth to the official heir to the throne since 1750.
She became Empress (Kogo) when her husband ascended to the throne on 30 July 1912. Given her husband's weak physical and mental condition, she exerted a strong influence on imperial life, and was an active patron of Japanese Red Cross Society. The relations between the Emperor and Empress were very good, as evidenced by Emperor Taisho’s lack of interest in taking concubines, thus breaking with hundreds of years of imperial tradition, and by her giving birth to four sons.
After the death of Emperor Taisho on 25 December 1926, her title became that of Dowager Empress ( 皇太后, Kotaigo) (which means "widow of the former emperor"). She openly objected to Japan's involvement in World War II, which caused conflict with her son, Hirohito. From 1943, she also worked behind the scenes with her third son Prince Takamatsu to bring about the downfall of Prime Minister Hideki Tojo.
She died on 17 May 1951 at Omiya Palace in Tokyo, aged 66, and was buried near her husband, Emperor Taisho, in the Tama no higashi no misasagi (多摩東陵) at the Musashi Imperial Graveyard in Tokyo.
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