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, also known as , was empress consort of Emperor Meiji of Japan. ==Early life== Born , she was the third daughter of Tadaka Ichijō, former Minister of the Left and head of the Ichijō branch of the Fujiwara clan. Her mother was a daughter of Prince Fushimi Kuniie. As a child, Princess Masako was somewhat of a prodigy, and was able to read poetry from the ''Kokin Wakashū'' by age four, and had composed some ''waka'' verses of her own by age five. By age seven, she was able to read some texts in classical Chinese, with some assistance, and was studying Japanese calligraphy. By age twelve, she had studied the ''koto'', and was fond of ''Noh'' drama. She had also studied ''ikebana'' and the Japanese tea ceremony. Usual for the time, she had also been vaccinated against smallpox. The major obstacle to her eligibility was that she was three years older than Emperor Meiji, but this issue was resolved by changing her official birth date from 1849 to 1850.〔Keene, Donald. (2005). ''Emperor of Japan:Meiji and His World,'' pp. 106-108.〕 She became engaged to Emperor Meiji on 2 September 1867 and she adopted the given name , which was intended to reflect her diminutive size and serene beauty. The Tokugawa Bakufu promised 15,000 ryō in gold for the wedding, and assigned her an annual income of 500 ''koku'', but as the Meiji Restoration occurred before the wedding could be completed, the promised amounts were never delivered. The wedding was delayed partly due to periods of mourning for Emperor Kōmei, and for her brother Ichijō Saneyoshi, and due to political disturbances around Kyoto in 1867 and 1868. The wedding was finally officially celebrated on 11 January 1869.〔 She was the first imperial consort to receive the title of both ''nyōgō'' and 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, it soon became clear that Empress Haruko was unable to bear children. Emperor Meiji had fifteen children by five official ladies-in-waiting. As it had long been the custom in Japanese monarchy, she adopted Yoshihito, her husband's eldest son by a concubine. Yoshihito thus became the official heir to the throne, and at Emperor Meiji's death, succeeded him as Emperor Taishō. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Empress Shōken」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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