Issue Emperor Meiji Spouse Emperor Komei Father Nakayama Tadayasu House Imperial House of Japan | Mother Matsura Aiko Children Emperor Meiji Name Nakayama Yoshiko | |
 | ||
Born 16 January 1836 ( 1836-01-16 ) Burial Toshimagaoka Imperial cemetery, Bunkyo, Tokyo Died October 5, 1907, Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo Parents Nakayama Tadayasu, Matsura Seizan Similar People Emperor Meiji, Emperor Komei, Yanagihara Naruko, Emperor Taisho, Empress Shoken | ||
Nakayama Yoshiko (中山慶子, 16 January 1836 – 5 October 1907) was a Japanese lady-in-waiting in the court of the Imperial House of Japan. She was a favourite concubine of Emperor Kōmei and the mother of Emperor Meiji.
Contents
Parents
Nakayama Yoshiko was the daughter of Lord Nakayama Tadayasu, Minister of the Left (Sadaijin) and a member of the Fujiwara clan. Her mother was Matsura Aiko (1818–1906), the 11th daughter of the daimyo of the Hirado domain, Matsura Seizan.
At the court
She was born in Kyoto and entered service of the court at the age of 16. She became a concubine of Kōmei, and on November 3, 1852, gave birth to Mutsuhito, later known as Emperor Meiji, at her father’s residence outside of the Kyoto Imperial Palace. She returned with her son to the Palace five years later. Her son was the eldest of six born to Emperor Komei.
After the Meiji Restoration, she relocated to the new capital to Tokyo in 1870 at the behest of the Emperor. She is buried in Toshimagaoka cemetery in Bunkyo, Tokyo.