On Friday in Tokyo, the passing of Prince Mikasa was announced, the oldest member of the Japanese imperial family and the elder uncle of the current emperor, at the age of 101. This was reported by the Imperial Agency of Japan. The prince had been hospitalized in March following an insult and was in a state of mild and intermittent recovery under medical observation after treatment in the realm of realization.
Prince Mikasa, born into an aristocratic family on June 4, 1923, under the name Yuriko Takadzu, got married at 18 to Prince Mikasa, the younger brother of Emperor Hirohito, the grandfather of the current emperor Naruhito. They had two daughters and three sons, as well as nine grandchildren.
"When I raised my children, I remember that it was a difficult time in Japanese society, and with deep gratitude, I recall the number of people who always supported me, including my husband," noted Princess Mikasa.
The trio passed away before her, one was 47 years old when he left this life during a game of squash. The first daughter of the princess was born in 1944, when Japan was still in a state of war. The daily newspaper Asahi recalled that the family's imperial house was destroyed during the aerial bombardment, and they were forced to live in hiding with their young children.
Emperor Hirohito, who commanded the Japanese army during his mighty campaign across Asia in the 30s and 40s, was met with the devastation of capitulation on August 15, 1945, shortly after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the USA. Prince Mikasa, who passed away in 2016 at the age of 100, supported the decision to end the war; however, a young officer, not agreeing with this, visited him, trying to change his opinion.