Takamatsu Kikuko

Princess Takamatsu (right) with her husband, Prince Takamatsu, in front of the Hotel Adlon in Berlin, 1930

Princess Takamatsu Kikuko ( Japanese 宣仁 親 王妃 喜 久 子 , Nobuhito-shinnōhi Kikuko or 高 松 宮 妃 喜 久 子 , Takamatsu-no-miya-hi Kikuko ; * December 26, 1911 in Tokyo ; † December 18, 2004 in Tokyo ) was a Japanese princess.

Princess Takamatsu, born as Tokugawa Kikuko ( 徳 川 喜 久 子 ) and eldest daughter of Prince Tokugawa Yoshihisa, bore the title of "Imperial Highness". She was the widow of Prince Takamatsu Nobuhito , the third son of Taishō-tennō Yoshihito and younger brother of Shōwa-tennō Hirohito . Her grandfather was the last Japanese shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu . Princess Takamatsu was an aunt of Tennō emeritus of Japan, Akihito .

Takamatsu completed her training under the name Kikuko in the girls' department of Gakushūin University in Tokyo. She married Prince Takamatsu on February 4, 1930 in the Imperial Palace . After the Second World War , both worked for charitable aid organizations, their special commitment was the lepers . After Prince Takamatsu's death, the princess became the patroness of her husband's cancer research society, the Princess Takamatsu Cancer Research Foundation .

In 1991 the princess discovered Prince Takamatsu's diaries, which he had written between 1934 and 1947, and then had them published in a magazine. Princess Takamatsu has been ailing since September 1999. Contrary to the usual customs of the Japanese imperial family , Princess Takamatsu spoke up in a Japanese women's magazine in 2002 and called for a change in the law in favor of a female succession to the throne. Takamatsu referred to the female reign in England and Sweden . She saw good prospects of enforcing a change in the law in the Japanese parliament and making Princess Aiko , the first child of Emperor Naruhito and his wife Empress Masako , the female Tennō.

She lived in Takanawa Palace in Tokyo's Minato district until her death . The princess died of blood poisoning on December 18, 2004 .

Web links

Commons : Takamatsu Kikuko  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Short biography on the website of the Imperial Court Office - English

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Takamatsu is the family name, Kikuko the first name.