With the wedding of William and Kate in England, interest in the royals is at an all time high. Did you know that the Japanese also have a royal family? If you’d like to know more about Japanese royal weddings, there’s an article about it here: https://blogs.transparent.com/japanese/royal-wedding-attire

Since the royal wedding in England, I think the question on people’s minds is on whether William and Kate will live happily ever after. As you know, Prince Charles and Diana’s fairy tale wedding did not end up as a fairy tale marriage. Like royals couples everywhere, Japanese royal couples have had their ups and downs.

Take for example Emperor Meiji (明治天皇) and his wife, Empress Shōken (昭憲皇后). Empress Shōken was exceptionally intelligent and very active in charity work. She was considered a good Empress, but she failed to provide any children. As a result, the Emperor had fifteen children with five different women. Empress Shōken did not have a perfect marriage, but she did the best she could and put up a good front for her people.

Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken’s marriage was an arranged marriage, but Emperor Akihito (明仁天皇) and his wife Empress Michiko (皇后美智子) was more or less a love match. Empress Michiko was from a commoner background; which made the couple’s first years difficult because the Emperor’s mother disapproved of having a commoner as a daughter-in-law. However, over the years it seems that the couple have been inseparable and still going strong.

While Emperor Akihito married a commoner, Emperor Hirohito (裕仁天皇) literally married within the family by marrying his distant cousin. I guess you could say it was love at first sight for Emperor Hirohito, because he chose his future bride by watching her through a peephole during a tea ceremony. He also broke with tradition by deciding not to have concubines. It seems that the couple had a relatively happy marriage that produced seven children.

Emperor Taishō (大正天皇) and his wife Empress Teimei (貞明皇后) was an exemplary royal couple. The both of them worked well as a team. When the Emperor became ill, the Empress handled some of the Emperor’s duties behind the scenes. The Emperor did not take any concubines, which says a lot about Emperor Taishō’s regard for his wife. Past emperors have had concubines even when they already had sons by their official wife, so it must have been a conscious decision of Emperor Taishō not to have concubines.

What’s interesting about Emperor Kōkaku (光格天皇) and his wife Empress Yoshiko (欣子皇后) was that the both of them were semi related to each other before they got married to each other. Emperor Kōkaku was Empress Yoshiko’s adopted stepbrother. When the two got married they became husband and wife; which must have been awkward to say the least. She gave birth to two sons, but both died in infancy. Emperor Kōkaku took to having concubines, so there was some difficulties and strife in this marriage.