European/Japan royal marriages

[Australian]

I was wondering, would it be allowed for a European prince or princess to marry into the Japanese Imperial family? I would love to see one day a marriage between a European royal and a Japanese royal

 

[jacadenasso]

Who knows? I guess it would, but it'd be the strangest marriage ever, not because of the races, but because both would be royals.

 

[mandyy]

There have been former Japanese Imperial ladies marrying into the Chinese and Korean Imperial Families.

A Japanese Imperial lady got married to the last Chinese Emperor's younger brother. They have 2 daughters in which the elder one committed suicide with only the younger daughter still alive today.
Another Japanese lady with aristocratic background (I think she was called Masako) married to the last crown prince of Korea and they had 2 sons. The elder son died during his childhood and the younger one die recently in Japan.

 

[Australian]

thanks for that information Mandyy

 

[lady_windsor]

it would be wierd to see an european royal marrying a japanese royal

 

[purple_platinum]

if a japanese princess marry an european prince, she would not be forced stripped out her "HRH Princess..." title, right?

 

[hillary_nugent]

Wow that's an interesting thought ^^ i would love too see this happen! =)

 

[msfroyste]

it almost did, 1 time, that i know of. there was a story at the early of the 20th century, when nicholas II of russia's 2 oldest daughters, olga and tatiana, had "reached marriagable" age, as to who they could/would marry. when the idea that a japanese prince came up, they both basically said that would be peachy keen, with the exception that they could never marry a pagen. later on, they added the excuse that they didn't want to leave russia, a fact of which could've saved their lives. just something i read, i believe, over at the alexander palace time machine/msg board, a while back.

 

[Australian]

thats interesting myfroste, i would have liked to see a Japanese/Russian royal marriage.

 

[jacadenasso]

The japanese lady who married the last Korean Crown Prince was an imperial princess and a cousin of emperor Akihito.

 

[Poppy]

Why did the eldest daughter of the brother of the last Emperor of China committed suicide???

The lady who married the brother of the last Emperor of China was a daughter of a Marquis.

The lady who married the last Crown Prince of Korea was a first cousin of the Late Dowager Empress Nagako on her father's side.

 

[ladybelline]

The lady who married the brother of the last Emperor of China was a daughter of a Marquis.

Her name was Saga Hiro, she was the daughter of Marquis Saga, and married Pu Jie, brother of Emperor Pu Yi. (sorry if I mispelled the names... )

 

[Mapple]

it almost did, 1 time, that i know of. there was a story at the early of the 20th century, when nicholas II of russia's 2 oldest daughters, olga and tatiana, had "reached marriagable" age, as to who they could/would marry. when the idea that a japanese prince came up, they both basically said that would be peachy keen, with the exception that they could never marry a pagen. later on, they added the excuse that they didn't want to leave russia, a fact of which could've saved their lives. just something i read, i believe, over at the alexander palace time machine/msg board, a while back.

I daresay this info is incorrect. This proposition was not entertained by Nicholas II and his daughters owing to the fact that there were no unmarried sons of marriageable age of either Meiji or Taisho Emperors then.

 

[kei893265]

Thank you for information, all.
yes, the Japanese lady's name is Masako (princess Masako Nashimoto, 1901-1989), who married the last Crown Prince of Korea. she was prince Nashimoto's eldest daughter, her younger son die recently in the hotel, it was his family's house before.
Lady Hiro Saga -spell is right (1914-1987) married the Chinese prince, I have read an autobiography of her. her elder daughter committed suicide (a double suicide?)with her classmate at the age of 20, this news was big scandal at that time...
though not the Royal family, there are (-were?) some couple of the European aristocracy and the Japanese. and I have heard a Japanese lady married Arabian prince in 1920or1930s, but this story is not famous..is very few information.
I heard the story about Japanese/Russian royal marriage, for the first time. there were about seven Japanese princes of princesses olga and tatiana's generation (-not an emperor's sons). but..., does the IHA grant that permit..

 

[Warren]

I heard the story about Japanese/Russian royal marriage, for the first time. there were about seven Japanese princes of princesses olga and tatiana's generation (yes, not an emperor's sons). but..., does the IHA grant that permit..

I think it unlikely that an Orthodox Grand Duchess would marry a Shinto Prince, especially taking into account the Russo-Japanese War where the Russian Navy was humiliated.

 

[merampo]

I have heard the plan of the marriage of Prince ?? Yamashina of Japan and Hawaiian princess.

1.The wedding picture of Princess Masako Nashimoto and Crown Prince of Korea.(4-28-1920)

 

[kei893265]

It is the Prince Higashi-Fushimi (you can see his photos) that there was a plan of marriage with the Hawaiian princess (the Hawaiian king's niece). he was called prince Yamashina, temporary. Emperor and the IHA declined the offer politely, because thay said that there was no statute of marriage for Japanese/non-Japanese Royal family, at that time.

1. photo of lady hiro Saga (wife of Chinese emperor's brother)

 

[ladybelline]

Lady Hiro Saga looks lovely!! What a sad story about her children....

Thank you very much for the picture, kei893265!
I've read many times Emperor Pu Yi's autobiography, but there was no pictures with it! So with this one (and some more in the thread about the Chinese Imperial famil), I can see at least how they really were.

 

[msfroyste]

I think it unlikely that an Orthodox Grand Duchess would marry a Shinto Prince, especially taking into account the Russo-Japanese War where the Russian Navy was humiliated.

that was one reason. the main thing was that none of them wanted to leave russia, as i have stated, although, olga namely stated religious reasons as her reason for not marrying a japanese royal. and as someone else said, there were plenty of princes to go around, even the emperor's sons- they were allowed concubines in those days.

 

[alterego]

Heehee, it's impossible, at least for now. Since according to the Japanese Imperial Household Law, princes and princesses could only marry to Japanese. That's why Lady Hiro Saga was chosen to marry to the brother of Chinese Emperor. She's from the Kazoku(the hereditary peerage of Japan that existed between 1869 and 1947) instead of Royal Family, and has no title of Princess. Her paternal grandmother is the only daughter of Nakayama Tadamitsu, whose sister Nakayama Yoshiko is the natural mother of Emperor Meiji. As for Yi Bangja(born as Nashimotonomiya Masako of Japan), she was betrothed to Crown Prince Eun of Korea because Korea was under Japanese rule(with the 1910 Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty), and she was misdiagnosed as infertility.

 

[monica17]

This is fairly recent..... a high-ranking member of the IHA said that if Princess Aiko studied abroad, falls in love with a blue-eyed foreigner and marries him, it will be a DISASTER. Of course, this statement is general, in the sense that it didn't say whether a blue-eyed foreigner prince is acceptable.

It certainly looks like inter-racial or marriage to a non-Japanese is taboo, or at least not the practice, for the imperial family.

 

[CrownPrinceLorenzo]

The IHA is full of *censored*!

If Princess Aiko is raised just like how the other Princes and Princesses have been raised, she will marry a Japanese man.

None of the Princes married a foreign women, none of the Princesses married foreign men. I mean, the Princesses would lose their titles anyway, yet they still married Japanese commoners.

 

[Elspeth]

This is fairly recent..... a high-ranking member of the IHA said that if Princess Aiko studied abroad, falls in love with a blue-eyed foreigner and marries him, it will be a DISASTER. Of course, this statement is general, in the sense that it didn't say whether a blue-eyed foreigner prince is acceptable.

It certainly looks like inter-racial or marriage to a non-Japanese is taboo, or at least not the practice, for the imperial family.

This is so totally stupid. Why they seem to think this would be a danger for a crown princess but not a crown prince is one of those things that beggars belief.

 

[bbb]

i love this forem for all the interesting things u learn. thanks so much for the information.
from what little i know of the culture, it would never be permitted. i don't believe (the evil iha) will let PA out of Japan for her education, heaven forbid she end up like her mother (and not a robot to their rules)

 

[monica17]

Oh, sorry! That remark about the unacceptability of Aiko (as an empress) marrying a blue-eyed foreigner and having the son become emperor wasn't made by the IHA but a former trade minister and MP. He was yakking about racial purity. So, not the IHA but its ally, the conservatives.

I hope Aiko does get educated abroad. One of imperial princesses is studying in Scotland right now.

 

[mandyy]

One of imperial princesses is studying in Scotland right now.

Yes, Princess Tsuguko of Takamado (the eldest daughter of Princess Hisako of Takamado) is currently studying at the University of Edinburgh.

 

[Hereditary Mapmaker]

As modern as Japan is in areas of fashion, electronics, technology, etc., this is one area where a greater portion of the rest of the world has seen evolution. Most of the Western European and even some of the Eastern cultures have experienced more cultural diversity, including interacial marriage among royal/noble families. Comments about who Princess Aiko may marry and the outcomes are steeped in that lack of evolution as well as a level of close-mindedness. In additon, the IHA may be experiencing resistance to a new situation. Even if the Russian princesses had married into the Japanese royal family and taken new names, titles, styles, religions, etc., historically, male royals didn't usually do so (until The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Henrik, etc.) The idea that a Christian/Muslim/whatever man would change to the Shinto faith would be a new idea to the IHA. Could it happen? Sure. Anything is possible. Luckily for them, Prince Akishino & Princess Kiko have given a few months more to avoid the entire situation.

Mapper

 

[Elspeth]

I don't think it's just the religious aspect; when they were discussing the possible reform, the experts consulted included geneticists who were arguing that the male-line succession should continue because it's the only way to preserve the Y chromosome (which is passed pretty much intact from generation to generation of men, unlike most of the chromosomes). Other geneticists pointed out that the very intactness of the chromosome meant that it would be shared by many people who were no longer royal, and so the "imperial Y chromosome" really wasn't all that exclusive anyway.

 

[Gutsy]

Sveciae Rex

It is currently Imperial House Law that any female of the Imperial House who marries thereby relinquishes her membership in the Imperial Family. We saw that in the former Princess Sayako's case recently. This way the size of the Imperial Family is limited as was the intention of the Occupation Authorities after WWII. The Japanese have no precedent of a "commoner" male marrying into the Imperial House.
As for a royal marriage involving a foreigner: e.g, an Imperial Prince marrying a foreign Royalty is would be a direct confrontation with the traditionally very strong Japanese notion of the Imperial Family being exclusively Japanese.

 

[foiegrass]

well, even if a japanese princess marries a European Prince.
Her status would be higher right?
I mean, HIH compared to HRH.