Prince Yasuhiko Asaka
His Imperial Highness Prince Asaka (Yasuhiko) of Japan (jp: 朝香宮鳩彦王 Asaka no miya Yasuhiko ō, 2 October 1887 - 13 April 1981) of Japan, was a member of the Japanese imperial family and a career army officer. A son-in-law of Emperor Meiji and an uncle-in-law of Emperor Shōwa, Prince Asaka commanded the final assault of Japanese forces on Nanjing, then the capital city of Nationalist China, in December 1937. He was implicated in the Nanjing massacre, but never charged.
Early years
Prince Yasuhiko was born in Kyoto, the eighth son of Prince Kuni Asahiko (Kuni no miya Asahiko Shinnō) and the court lady Tsunoda Sugako. His father, Prince Kuni, was former Buddhist priest and minor prince descended from the Fushimi-no-miya, one the four branch houses of the imperial dynasty (shinnōke) entitled to provide a successor to the throne. In 1872, the Emperor Meiji granted him the title Kuni-no-miya and authorization to begin a new branch of the imperial family. Prince Yasuhiko was a half-brother of Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko, Prince Nashimoto Morimasa, and Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi, the father of the future Empress Kojun, the consort of Emperor Shōowa.
Marriage and family
Like the other imperial princes of the Meiji period, it was expected that Prince Yasuhiko would pursue a career in the Imperial Japanese Army or the Imperial Japanese Navy. He received his early education at the Gakushuin Boy's School and the Central Military Preparatory School, before graduating the Imperial Military Academy in 1908 as a second lieutentant. On 30 March 1906, the Emperor Meiji granted him the title Asaka-no-miya and authorization to begin a new branch of the imperial family. On 6 May 1909, Prince Asaka married Princess Nobuko (7 August 1891 - 3 November 1933), the eighth daughter of Emperor Meiji. Prince and Princess Asaka had four children:
- Princess Kikuko 12 September 1911 - 1989; married 1931 Nabeshima Naoyasu, heir of Marquis Nabeshima.
- Prince Takahiko (8 October 1912 - 5 May 1994); married 16 December 1935 Todo Chikako (5 May 1921 - ), the fifth daughter of Count Todo Takatsugu; and had issue.
- Prince Tadahito (4 January 1914 - January 1944, killed during the Battle of Kwajalien Island); renounced membership in the imperial family and created Marquis Otowa, 1936.
- Princess Kiyoko (2 August 1919 - )
Military career and disputed responsibility of the Nanjing massacre
Prince Asaka was promoted to captain in 1912, lieutenant colonel in 1917, and colonel in 1922. In 1922, he went to France to study military strategy and technology at the St. Cyr, the French staff college. However, in April 1923, he was seriously injured in automobile accident in a Paris suburb. Princess Asaka travelled to France to nurse her husband. During that period, Prince and Princess Asaka became enthralled with Art Deco. Upon returning to Japan in 1925, Prince Asaka had a new mansion built in the Art Deco style in Tokyo's Shirokanedai neighborhood. The house was completed in May 1933, but Princess Asaka died a few months later.
Prince Asaka was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1926. In 1930, while Japanese soldiers were being sent to Manchuria to put down the Kuomintang, he became a major general and began teaching at the Military Staff College. In 1933, he was promoted to lieutenant general and assumed command of the First Imperial Guards, giving him an even more influential position over the emperor. Prince Asaka pressed Emperor Showa to replace Prime Minister Okada Keisuke with Hirota Koki in March 1936, following the February 26 Incident.
Following the full-scale Japanese invasion of China in 1937, Prince Asaka transferred into the Shanghai Expeditionary Force led by the elderly General Matsui Iwane. He became the commander of one of the SEF's main divisions, and led that division toward the city of Nanking in November. Matsui initially led the charge into Nanking, but Prince Asaka temporarily took over late in November due to Matsui's ill health.
Prince Asaka's responsibility for the Nanjing massacre is a matter of debate. Some historians contend that Asaka actually signed the order for Japanese soldiers in Nanjing to "kill all captives." Other historians claim a member of the staff of the Central China Area Army sent this order under the prince's sign manual. Matsui did not arrive in the city until well after the killing had begun.
In February 1938, with vast parts of Nanking burned, looted, and in ruins, both Prince Asaka and Matsui were recalled to Japan. Matsui went into virtual retirement, but Prince Asaka remained on the emperor's Supreme War Council until the end of the war in August 1945. He was promoted to the rank of general in August 1939 but held no further military commands. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East did not prosecute him. General Douglas MacArthur decided to grant immunity to the Imperial family.
Postwar life as a commoner
Prince Asaka, his elder son, and his younger daughter lost their membership in the imperial family as a result of the American occupation reform of the Japanese imperial household in October 1947. He and his son were purged from holding any political or public office because they had been officers in the Japanese army. His palatial residence in Shirokanedai was taken over by the government, and now houses the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. The former prince moved to Atami, on the Izu Peninsula south of Tokyo. He became a Roman Catholic in 1951, and spent most of his time playing golf until his death in April 1981 at age 93. He was survived by a daughter, Kiyoko Asaka, a grandson, Tomohiko Asaka, two grand-daughters (Fukuko Asaka and Minoko Asaka) and a great-grandson (Haruhiko Asaka)