PRINCE REGENT OF JAPAN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18562, 21 November 1923, Page 9

PRINCE REGENT OF JAPAN.

WEDDING NEXT YEAR. /. '" ■'--■ POSTPONED BY EARTHQUAKE.

Australian and N.Z. Cable Association., (Reed. 8.5 n.ra.) ' TO^ o - Nov. 19. The formal wedding ceremony of the Prince Regent, which was postponed because of the earthquake, is to be held on February 6 next,year. The public celebration of the event will be postponed until the following autumn. C ;.•

EUTTJRE EMPRESS OF JAPAN.

CHOSEN SIX YEARS AGO.

The Princess I Nagako, the future Empress of Japan J has * had a' democratic training. Despite the fact that her father is a Prince "of the blood, with a, high place in the Imperial Family, arid her mother .-v noblewoman of /the mighty Satsuma clan, her early fears werei passed in ,a very humble dwelling- in Tokio, a 10- \ room house sheltering a family of nine j persons. ■.'-'•' ■•■"■■.,''■//-■ '"■ •■•'•;■' -V " | The . young Princess in whom the af- 1 fections of ■.', the i nation ate now being j centred was born in 1903, at a time when the clouds of the "t approaching RussoJapanese j war were darkening ; every home in Japan. Her father, the Imperial I Prince Kuni, •then a major in the JapanI ese Army, was busy with his military duties, arid before his little daughter had celebrated her first .birthday he marched I away to the war with* his : regiment. For nearly two . years father v and daughter ! saw nothing of each''other, and the -sole i care vof the child iV; devolved upon the I mother, -the Princess Ctiika, daughter of ; the feudal lord of Satsuma. I In January, 1918, Baron Hatano, one j of the high and solemn functionaries of ! the "% Imperial Court, journeyed' in state I from Tokio to the home of Prince Kuni, |on a then unsuspected '//, mission, now ; known to' have been the conveyance 'of j the Imperial "*wish that the Princes> Nagako be considered as the future bride of the * Imperial'- heir, then in .' his i 18th year. , , ' :'. ' "■• .- , This, naturally, brought about a # great change in the -1 heretofore simple life of the young maiden, and her ■ studies were ! turned into 'channels/to-' fit her 'best, for, I the* great position she is to occupy. It also, , ; later, "brought ; her , into the swirl of court Vpoli tics-and clan intrigue, those mighty ones who" feared the supremacy : of the Satsuma influence . in the Imperial circle offering " objection -to the . marriage. One of '. these was Prince Yamagata, head I of the Chosu clan, and bo close to the I throne that by . many he was credited with being the real ruler of the land. As their reason for opposing.. this 4 mar- ; iage, it was stated that they had learned that the aunt of the young Princess, the sister of Princess Chika, was blind in one eye, therefore ;thevfamily blood was-j a shade imperfect, but a shad* that should prevent such blood becoming that of - future Sons; of J, Heaven, Japan n was . divided over this question, and ; there was •?& tremendous £ istruggle under the surface. Yamagata was : defeated, and offered ■'■} to - surrender,-; all ->"/ his ; :'-powers, titles, and honours, an offer which . was refused, T leaving - this ' : still - great man a power until his receipt death. The Imperial bride, while accomplished along purely Japanese lines, 1 ' with la"deep knowledge of '.Chinese/ classics, Japanese music lid - poetry, ; and /the 'highly polished etiquette required iof one in court circles/ is ' also I accomplished '/along modern lines. She ,is an. expert typist arid an amateur photographer. ' /*./