Prince Chichibu visits Germany 1937

Discussions on all aspects of the Japanese Empire, from the capture of Taiwan until the end of the Second World War.
Post Reply
User avatar
Peter H
Member
Posts: 28628
Joined: 30 Dec 2002, 14:18
Location: Australia

Prince Chichibu visits Germany 1937

#1

Post by Peter H » 10 May 2005, 06:12

Colour film was found recently of Prince Chichibu(one of the Emperor's brothers) visting Germany in 1937.He attended the Nuremberg Rally and meet Hitler.

Japan's War in Colour
http://www.aptonline.org/aptweb.nsf/vOt ... PB+Ratings

Has anyone any still photographs of Chichibu in Germany?

Thanks,
Peter

User avatar
Peter H
Member
Posts: 28628
Joined: 30 Dec 2002, 14:18
Location: Australia

#2

Post by Peter H » 10 May 2005, 06:27

The Emperor's brothers:

Prince Chichibu (Yasuhito) b. 25 June 1902 d. 4 Jan 1953
1922 graduated from the Imperial Military Academy
1931 graduated from the Imperial Military Staff College
1935 Major
1938 Lieutenant-Colonel
1939 Colonel
1945 Major-General

Photo here:
http://www.geocities.com/jtaliaferro.ge ... tml?200510
His Late Imperial Highness Prince Chichibu (Chichibu-no-miya Yasuhito Shinnō), Supreme Order of Chrysanthemum, Order of Rising Sun, Order of Sacred Treasure, GCVO (Great Britain), Order of the Seraphim (Sweden), was born on 25 June 1902, the second son of the then-Crown Prince Yoshihito (later Emperor Taishō) and Crown Princess Sadako. Originally titled Atsu-no-miya Yasuhito (Prince Atsu), the prince attended the elementary and secondary departments of the Peers' School along with his older brother Prince Michi-no-miya (Hirohito). He entered the Military Academy in 1918 and graduated in 1922. Later that year Emperor Taishō granted his second son the title Chichibu-no-miya and the authorization to start a new princely house. Prince Chichibu received his commission as a sub-lieutenant in October 1922 and an assignment to the First Imperial Guard Division. In 1925, the Prince went to Great Britain to study at Oxford, but returned to Japan in January 1927 following the death of Emperor Taishō. While in Great Britain King George V with decorated Prince Chichibu the Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. On 28 September 1928, the Prince married Matsudaira Setsuko, the daughter of Ambassador Matsudaira Yasuhito and niece of Viscount Matsudaira Morio. Prince and Princess Chichibu were without issue. Prince Chichibu became a lieutenant in 1925 and a captain in 1930. He studied at the Military Staff College from 1928 to 1930. The Prince was commanding officer of the 31st Infantry Division in 1935 and joined the Army General Staff Office in Tokyo the following year. During the February 26, 1936 Incident some coup plotters mentioned Prince Chichibu (then third in line to the throne) as a possible replacement for Emperor Shōwa. He and Princess Chichibu represented Japan at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (12 May 1937). Prince Chichibu was honorary president of the British-Japan Association and the Swedish Society of Japan. Both he and his wife were fluent in English. The prince retired from active duty at the rank of colonel in 1940. During World War II, Prince Chichibu retired from public life, due to tuberculosis. He died on 24 January 1953 at Kunegenuma.
http://www.geocities.com/jtaliaferro.geo/showa.html


Prince Takamatsu (Nobuhito) b. 3 Jan 1905 d. 3 Feb 1987
1924 graduated from the Imperial Naval Academy
1932 graduated from the Imperial Naval Gunnery Academy
1936 graduated from the Imperial Naval Staff College
1940 Commander IJN
1942 Captain IJN

Photo here:
http://www.geocities.com/jtaliaferro.ge ... tml?200510
His Late Imperial Highness Prince Takamatsu (Takamatsu-no-miya Nobuhito Shinnō), Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum, Order of the Rising Sun, Order of the Supreme Treasure, Kt. Order of Seraphim (Sweden), Grand Cordon Order of St. Olav (Norway) and Order of Carol I (Romania), was born on 3 January 1905, the third son of Crown Prince Yoshihito (Emperor Taishō) and Crown Princess Sadako. Originally titled Teru-no-miya Nobuhito Shinnō, he attended the boys' elementary department of the Gakushuin along with his older brothers. Following the death of Prince Arisugawa (Takehito) without an heir on 6 July 1913, Emperor Taishō granted Prince Nobuhito the title Takamatsu-no-miya (which had been the original title of the Arisugawa-no-miya house). After finishing the middle school course in the Peers' School in 1921, Prince Takamatsu entered the Naval Academy, graduating in 1925. He became a sub-lieutenant (2nd Class) in December 1925 and took up duties aboard the battleship Fuso. He rose to sub-lieutenant (1st Class) in 1927. He studied at the Torpedo School (1925-1926), the Naval Aviation School at Kasumigaura (1927), and the Naval Gunnery School (1928). Prince Takamatsu married Tokugawa Kikuko, the second daughter of Prince Tokugawa Yoshihisa [peer] and a granddaughter of Prince Arisugawa Takehito, on 4 February 1930. In April 1930, Prince and Princess Takamatsu embarked on a world tour, which included, which included visits to Great Britain and Norway. They returned the courtesies shown by King George V of Great Britain in sending a mission to Japan to present the Order of the Garter to the Emperor. On 1 September 1930, King Haakon VII of Norway invested Prince Takamatsu with the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav. Prince Takamatsu graduated from the Imperial Naval Staff College in 1936. In 1938, he rose to the rank of lieutenant commander and received a posting to the Naval General Staff Office. During the Second World War, he held various staff positions in the Imperial Navy and rose to the rank of captain. Prince Takamatsu expressed grave reservations about the Tojo government and Imperial General Headquarters' decision to wage war on the United States. The Prince urged Emperor Shōwa to sue for peace after the Japanese naval defeat at the Battle of Midway (1942), which apparently caused a rift between the royal brothers. Prince Takamatsu joined his uncles Prince Higashikuni and Prince Asaka and former Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro in seeking the ouster of Prime Minister Tojo Hideki in 1944. After the war Prince Takamatsu became the honorary president of various charitable, cultural and athletic organizations including: the Japan Fine Arts Society, the Denmark-Japan Society, the France-Japan Society, the Tofu Society for the Welfare of Leprosy Patients, the Sericulture Association, the Japan Basketball Association, and the Saise Welfare Society. He also served as a patron of the Japan Red Cross Society. After the promulgation of the 1947 Imperial Household Law, Prince Takamatsu was an active member of the Imperial Household Council. Prince Takamatsu died of lung cancer on 3 February 1987 at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo. In 1991, Princess Takamatsu and an aide discovered a twenty-volume diary, written in Prince Takamatsu's own hand between 1934 and 1947. The diary, which the magazine Chou Koron obtained, revealed the late prince had opposed the Kwantung Army's incursions in Manchuria (September 1931) and the expansion of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident (July 1937) into a full-scale war against China.

http://www.geocities.com/jtaliaferro.geo/showa.html


Prince Mikasa (Takahito) b. 2 Dec 1915 -
1935 graduated from the Imperial Military Academy
1938 graduated from Riding School of the Imperial Cavalry
1935 Captain
1941 graduated from the Imperial Military Staff College
1943 Major

Image
http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/images/03/03ph-56-1.jpg


User avatar
DrG
Member
Posts: 1408
Joined: 21 Oct 2003, 23:23
Location: Italia

#3

Post by DrG » 10 May 2005, 21:46

Peter H, thank you for the link, I didn't know that site about the Japanese imperial family...made by an Italoamerican. :o
Just for information, Prince Chichibu became Cavaliere dell'Ordine supremo della SS. Annunziata (the highest Italian order) on 28 June 1938.

User avatar
Windward
Member
Posts: 1810
Joined: 30 Jul 2003, 15:41
Location: Pechinum
Contact:

#4

Post by Windward » 12 May 2005, 11:33

Not in Germany, but these are photos of Chichibu no Miya.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

regards

User avatar
Windward
Member
Posts: 1810
Joined: 30 Jul 2003, 15:41
Location: Pechinum
Contact:

#5

Post by Windward » 12 May 2005, 11:40

It's said that Mikasa Miya was kinda pro-communism before and after Japan surrender. Japanese called him "red prince".

lucky me, I can find more info & pictures in google.co.jp by typing Chinese charactors.

here's another picture of Chichibu miya, taken on Mount Iwaki, Aomori province (the northet province on Honsho Island), on Aug 13 1936, in the ceremony of distant salute to Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

Image

User avatar
Peter H
Member
Posts: 28628
Joined: 30 Dec 2002, 14:18
Location: Australia

#6

Post by Peter H » 12 May 2005, 12:12

Great pics Windward.Thanks.

Also Hirohito's uncle in law,Prince Asaka Yasuhiko(1887-1981),commanded the Shanghai Expeditionary Force at Nanking in 1937.

http://www.geocities.com/nankingatrocit ... ing_02.htm
Lieutenant General Prince Asaka, the commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force and Emperor Hirohito's uncle, was granted immunity for any war crimes trial because of his lineage as a member of the royal family.
Image
http://www.geocities.com/nankingatrocit ... /asaka.jpg

More on the Prince here:

http://www.explore-biography.com/politi ... uhiko.html

Regards,
Peter

cactusjack
Member
Posts: 12
Joined: 11 Oct 2004, 22:39
Location: Japan

#7

Post by cactusjack » 13 May 2005, 20:49

:o
Last edited by cactusjack on 23 Jul 2005, 15:29, edited 3 times in total.

User avatar
Peter H
Member
Posts: 28628
Joined: 30 Dec 2002, 14:18
Location: Australia

#8

Post by Peter H » 14 May 2005, 01:20

cactusjack,

Thanks! :)

From what I can gather Chichibu was sent to Europe to represent the Imperial Family at the Coronation of King George VI in May 1937.He then holidayed in Switzerland.He was then onsent on the diplomatic visit to Germany as finalisation talks on the Axis pact between Germany,Italy and Japan were being concluded.

The Japanese cruiser Ashigara,later sunk at Leyte in 1944,also sailed into British waters in May 1937 as part of the Spithead Coronation Review.

Image
http://www.angelfire.com/fm/odyssey/Ashigara.JPG

The heavy cruiser Ashigara...seen here in Spithead at the 1937 Coronation Naval Review

User avatar
Windward
Member
Posts: 1810
Joined: 30 Jul 2003, 15:41
Location: Pechinum
Contact:

#9

Post by Windward » 14 May 2005, 14:54

At the mention of Japanese cruisers in British coronation, I found this picture of IJN large cruiser (semi-battlecruiser) Kurama in King George V's coronation, 1911. Prince Fumishi no Miya, Admiral Togo Heihachiro and General Nogi Maresuke also presented that coronation too.

Other warships were British battleships HMS St Vincent, HMS Jupiter, HMS Bellerophon, Russian armor cruiser Russiya, and Cunard liner Carmania.

regards
Attachments
IJN_Kurama.jpg
IJN_Kurama.jpg (32.03 KiB) Viewed 5299 times

User avatar
Peter H
Member
Posts: 28628
Joined: 30 Dec 2002, 14:18
Location: Australia

#10

Post by Peter H » 15 May 2005, 13:20

Thanks. :)

I don't know if Edward VIII also had a Coronation Navy Review.

Something more on the Ashigara in the UK 1937:
During her visit to England, the ASHIGARA's crew witness an air raid exercise in the Dover area. LtCdr Makino Shigeru (one of the later builders of the YAMATO) notices radar* towers on the Dover coast and sends a memo to the Kampon (Navy Technical Department) suggesting that the British must have invented a way to incorporate radio waves into their AA system.
http://www.combinedfleet.com/ashigara_t.htm

User avatar
Peter H
Member
Posts: 28628
Joined: 30 Dec 2002, 14:18
Location: Australia

#11

Post by Peter H » 15 May 2005, 13:24

I don't know if these findings on Chichibu are true or not either:

http://members.tripod.com/~AsianGazette/id1.html
...after Japan's full-scale invasion of China on 7 July 1937, Emperor Hirohito appointed one of his brothers, Prince Chichibu, to head a secret organisation called kin no yuri ('Golden Lily') whose function was to ensure that contraband was properly accounted for and not diverted by military officers or other insiders, such as Kodama, for their own enrichment. Putting an Imperial prince in charge was a guarantee that everyone, even the most senior commanders, would follow orders and that the Emperor personally would become immensely rich.
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsi ... days4.html
However, so much of this tale of buried Japanese treasure hoards is suspect that a great deal of what follows must be taken with a large grain of salt.

Simon Gunson
Member
Posts: 784
Joined: 23 Mar 2004, 01:25
Location: Wellington, New Zealand

Re: Prince Chichibu visits Germany 1937

#12

Post by Simon Gunson » 15 Sep 2008, 14:22

Would anybody here know if Prince Chchibu was in Korea in August 1945 ?

User avatar
Peter H
Member
Posts: 28628
Joined: 30 Dec 2002, 14:18
Location: Australia

Re: Prince Chichibu visits Germany 1937

#13

Post by Peter H » 24 Mar 2011, 06:10

Prince Chichibu visits Nuremberg 1937

Youtube poster akaospirits


User avatar
Peter H
Member
Posts: 28628
Joined: 30 Dec 2002, 14:18
Location: Australia

Re: Prince Chichibu visits Germany 1937

#14

Post by Peter H » 24 Mar 2011, 06:20

Banquet for the Prince
Attachments
Chichibu.jpg

Post Reply

Return to “Japan at War 1895-1945”