Fusako Kitashirakawa

Fusako Kitashirakawa, born Fusako, Princess Kane, was the eleventh child and seventh daughter of Emperor Meiji of Japan, and the fourth child and third daughter of Sono Sachiko, the Emperor's fifth concubine.

Biography

Fusako was born in Tokyo, the daughter of Emperor Meiji and Lady Sachiko. Fusako held the childhood appellation "Kane no miya".
On 29 April 1909, Princess Kane married Prince Kitashirakawa, the son of Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa and Princess Tomiko. Prince Naruhisa succeeded as head of the house of Kitashirakawa-no-miya after the death of his father in November 1895 during the First Sino-Japanese War. Prince and Princess Kitashirakawa had one son and three daughters:

Prince Nagahisa Kitashirakawa
Princess Mineko Kitashirakawa; married Viscount Tachibana Tanekatsu
Princess Sawako Kitashirakawa; married Viscount Higashizono Motofumi
Princess Taeko Kitashirakawa; married Tokugawa Yoshihisa, son of Kuniyuki Tokugawa.

In October 1947, the Kitashirakawa and the other branches of the Japanese Imperial Family other than patrilineal descendants of her half-brother, Emperor Taishō were divested of their titles and privileges during the Allied occupation of Japan and became commoners. The former princess served as custodian and chief priestess of the Ise Grand Shrine until her death on 11 August 1974, aged 84.