Empress Teimei

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Empress Teimei 貞明皇后
Formal portrait, 1912
Empress consort of Japan
Tenure	30 July 1912 – 25 December 1926
Enthronement	10 November 1915
Empress dowager of Japan
Tenure	25 December 1926 – 17 May 1951
Born	Sadako Kujō (九条節子) (1884-06-25)25 June 1884 Nishikichō, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Died	17 May 1951(1951-05-17) (aged 66) Ōmiya Palace, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Burial	22 June 1951 Musashi Imperial Graveyard
Spouse	Yoshihito, Emperor Taishō ​ ​ (m. 1900; died 1926)​
Issue	Hirohito, Emperor Shōwa Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu Takahito, Prince Mikasa
Posthumous name Empress Teimei (貞明皇后)
House	Fujiwara clan (by birth) Imperial House of Japan (by marriage)
Father	Kujō Michitaka
Mother	Ikuko Noma (concubine)
Religion	Shinto and Nichiren Shōshū

Sadako Kujō (九条節子, Kujō Sadako, 25 June 1884 – 17 May 1951), posthumously honoured as Empress Teimei (貞明皇后, Teimei-kōgō), was the wife of Emperor Taishō and the mother of Emperor Shōwa. Her posthumous name, Teimei, means "enlightened constancy". She was also the paternal grandmother of Emperor Emeritus Akihito, and the paternal great-grandmother of Emperor Naruhito.

Sadako Kujō was born on 25 June 1884 in Tokyo, as the fourth daughter of Duke Michitaka Kujō, head of Kujō branch of the Fujiwara clan. Her mother was Ikuko Noma (Concubinage).^[1]

She married then-Crown Prince Yoshihito (the future Emperor Taishō) on 10 May 1900, at the age of 15. The couple lived in the newly constructed Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, outside of the main Tokyo Imperial Palace complex. When she gave birth to a son, Hirohito, Prince Michi (the future Emperor Shōwa) in 1901, she was the first official wife of a Crown Prince or Emperor to have given birth to the official heir to the throne since 1750.

She became empress consort (皇后, Kōgō) when her husband ascended to the throne on 30 July 1912 following the death of her father-in-law, Emperor Meiji. Given her husband's weak physical and mental condition, she exerted a strong influence on imperial life, and was an active patron of Japanese Red Cross Society. The relations between the Emperor and Empress of Taishō period were very good, as evidenced by Emperor Taishō's lack of interest in taking concubines, thus breaking with hundreds of years of imperial tradition, and by her giving birth to four sons.

After the death of Emperor Taishō on 25 December 1926, her title became that of Dowager Empress (皇太后, Kōtaigō) (which means "widow of the former emperor"). She openly objected to Japan's involvement in World War II, which might have caused conflict with her eldest son, Emperor Hirohito. From 1943, she also worked behind the scenes with her third son Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu to bring about the downfall of Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō.

She was a Buddhist adherent who had faith in Nichiren Shoshu and prayed with the Shinto ritual ceremonies of the Tokyo Imperial Palace.

She died on 17 May 1951 at Omiya Palace in Tokyo, aged 66, and was buried near her husband, Emperor Taishō, in the Tama no higashi no misasagi (多摩東陵) at the Musashi Imperial Graveyard in Tokyo.^[2]

• Grand Cordon of the Order of Meiji
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown

•  Spain: The 1,060th Dame of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa

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  Crown Princess Sadako on her wedding day in 1900
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  Japanese wisteria, Wisteria floribunda, designated imperial personal emblem of Sadako
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  The newly enthroned Empress Sadako in jūnihitoe, 1912
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  Empress Sadako participating cherry blossom viewing party with her eldest son, Crown Prince Hirohito and Edward, Prince of Wales at Shinjuku Gyo-en in 1922
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  Empress Sadako visiting survivors after the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake
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  Empress Dowager Sadako with her grandson, Crown Prince Akihito in 1949
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  From left to right: Kazuko, Princess Taka (granddaughter), Toshimichi Takatsukasa (grandson-in-law), Emperor Hirohito (eldest son), Empress Nagako (daughter-in-law) and Empress Dowager Sadako in May 1950
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  State funeral of Empress Teimei, 22 June 1951
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  Empress Teimei's mausoleum in the Musashi Imperial Graveyard

• Empress of Japan
• Ōmiya Palace

• Bix, Herbert P. (2000). Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-019314-0; OCLC 247018161
• Fujitani, Takashi. (1998). Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan.. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-20237-5; OCLC 246558189—Reprint edition, 1998. ISBN 0-520-21371-8
• Hoyt, Edwin P. (1992). Hirohito: The Emperor and the Man. New York: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 978-0-275-94069-0; OCLC 23766658