Empress Dowager Shōken
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HIM Empress Shōken 昭憲皇太后 (jp: shōken kōtaigo), née Ichijō Haruko 一条美子 (born Ichijō Masako 一条勝子 28 May 1849 or 1850 - 19 April 1914) was the kōgō (empress-consort) of the Meiji Emperor (1852-1912, reigned 1867-1912). She was also known as Empress Haruko.
She was the third daughter of Lord Ichijō Tadaka, sometime Minister of the Left (Sadaijin), head of the Ichijo branch of the House of the Fujiwara. Her original given name was Masako and she adopted the name Haruko at her marriage to Emperor Meiji. On 2 September 1867, the Emperor Meiji married the young Lady Haruko. She is said to have been diminutive in size and serenely beautiful. Known posthumously as Empress Shōken, she was the first imperial consort to receive the title of kōgō (literally, the emperor's wife, translated as Empress consort), in several hundred years. Although she was the first Japanese empress consort to play a public role, she bore no children. Emperor Meiji had fifteen children by five official ladies-in-waiting.
She assumed the role of helping the poor and promoted national welfare and women’s education. She was therefore also called the “Mother of the Nation”. During the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), she also worked for the establishment of the Japan Red Cross Society. Especially concerned about Red Cross activities in peace time, she created a fund for the International Red Cross, which was named “The Empress Shoken Fund”. It is presently used for international welfare activities.
as has long been the custom in Japanese monarchy, she adopted Yoshihito, her husband's son by a concubine. Yoshihito thus became the official heir to the throne, and at Meiji's death, succeeded (Taisho Emperor).
Haruko Kogo was granted the title Shoken Kogo by her stepson, her adopted son Emperor Yoshihito.
She died in 1914, and was buried in the East Mount of the Fushimi Momoyama Ryo in Kyoto, her soul being enshrined in Meiji Jingu (Meiji Shrine) in Tokyo.
She is posthumously known as Empress Shōken - or also as Empress Dowager Shōken, since her husband died before she did. The railway-carriage of the empress, as well of the Meiji Emperor, can be seen today in the Meiji Mura Museum, close to Nagoya.
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