In Japan, the Imperial Family is the descendant of the legendary Shin clan, and the Japanese Emperor has been in power for 126 generations and has ruled Japan for centuries. Because the emperor is a descendant of the god Amaterasu, the emperor does not have a surname, but the vast majority of male emperors' names end with the word "ren", while women mostly end with "son".
Since Japan's defeat in World War II, the deified image of the emperor in the hearts of the Japanese people has ceased to exist, but the accumulation of centuries cannot be completely erased overnight. So although the Japanese emperor was deprived of almost all real power, he still retained it in the form of a "mascot". Living in this long-standing Japanese imperial family has never been an easy task.
Even after the Japanese emperor lost almost all of his real power, life within the Japanese imperial family was not easy. The first is the ubiquitous "rules" within the Japanese Imperial Family, because only the role of "mascots" makes these superficial forms more important. The second is the complex palace fight within the Japanese imperial family, which is as wonderful as the modern "Biography of Zhen Huan".
Emperor Showa's empress dowager Ryoko confronted her opponents during her campaign for empress
It was Emperor Showa, or Hirohito, who commanded the Japanese army on battlefields around the world during World War II, who launched the Japanese invasion of China. Just as wonderful as his military deeds were the process of choosing a concubine when he was still the crown prince.
Because the Japanese imperial family has always had the tradition of primogeniture, Hirohito can be said to be the next emperor recognized by everyone at that time, so his wife is naturally the next empress.
The most important thing for the Japanese imperial family to choose a concubine for the crown prince has never been his own preference, but the result of open struggles between the major family forces. At that time, the women who could enter Hirohito's vision were all thousands of gold from major families, and many of them were cultivated according to the standards of the empress from birth.
When Hirohito was choosing a concubine, there were two most powerful contenders: Ryoko and Fangzi. Ryoko's family lineage is not particularly prominent among many competitors, but she and Hirohito have known each other for a long time and have a solid emotional foundation. And Fang Zi is not only more intelligent and beautiful, but also the family power is much stronger than Liangzi.
Originally, Hirohito's parents, the emperor and empress at the time, had decided to choose Fangzi as their daughter-in-law, but when the imperial doctor gave Fangzi a "marriage examination", he accidentally found that Fangzi could not have children. How could the Emperor not be the Queen? Because of this discovery, Fangzi completely lost the opportunity to run for the future empress, and Ryoko quickly ascended to the throne and married Hirohito.
This incident was nothing, and Fangzi's family did not express dissatisfaction, but soon after, Fangzi, who was given to the Korean proton, became pregnant. Without thinking about it, the Japanese imperial family also understood that there was a problem with the imperial doctor who examined Fangzi's body, but at this time, the imperial doctor actually committed suicide.
The imperial doctor died so strangely that the suspicion of Ryoko intensified, but under Hirohito's love, Ryoko was not much affected. In this palace fight, Ryoko's biggest reliance is nothing more than Hirohito's love, in fact, before the two got married, Ryoko was almost replaced, and it was Hirohito's repeated insistence that saved Ryoko's position.
At that time, the Japanese elders, who were very powerful in Japan, wanted to force Ryoko's family to withdraw from marriage on the grounds that they had a history of color blindness. In fact, the elders did not have much opinion on Ryoko herself, they just wanted to take the opportunity to meddle in the internal affairs of the Japanese imperial family.
But Hirohito insisted on not leaving the marriage and persuaded his parents to side with him. Hirohito's father was not in good health at this time, so his mother came forward and publicly stated that she would not change the candidate for the crown princess. Under Hirohito's vigorous operation, the Japanese elders' plot did not succeed, and Ryoko also succeeded in ascending to the position of crown princess and later became empress.
Ryoko herself fell in love with the throne by truth, but it does not mean that she hopes that her future daughter-in-law will also fall in love with the position by relying on the truth. When she faced the woman her son loved, she did everything she could to make things difficult and very reluctant for her son to marry such a woman.
Emperor Akihito's empress, Michiko, struggled to survive in the imperial family because of her commoner origins
Ryoko's son was Emperor Akihito, who grew up at a time when Japan was in decline. By the time he was officially made crown prince, Japan had long since lost its world war-II glory and could only survive carefully in the shadow of the United States.
Such a historical background doomed the Japanese imperial family at that time to be far less loved by the people than before, and although many Japanese people still had great respect for the imperial family on the surface, they no longer regarded them as the descendants of "gods" in their hearts. Michiko, who came from the emerging bourgeoisie, was such a girl.
Michiko's father was mostly engaged in the education industry, and they all had great achievements, such a family is considered to be an upper class society in Japan, but the Japanese imperial family attaches great importance to blood, so in their eyes, Michiko is just an ordinary girl from a commoner's background. In particular, Akihito's mother, Ryoko, especially despises Michiko's origins.
What Ryoko did not expect was that her son Akihito would actually look at this girl from a commoner background, and it was not that she did not marry. Michiko herself received a Western-style education in England, and her reverence for the Japanese imperial family was not as great as that of ordinary Japanese people, which is what attracted Michiko to Akihito.
Before meeting Michiko, Akihito had gone through a long period of time to choose a concubine, but at that time the Japanese imperial family was already lonely, so according to the old method of selecting from people of noble blood, and did not find a suitable candidate. For those who meet the conditions, Akihito is not a good choice at all, so many families have refused to participate in the concubine selection.
At a tennis tournament, Akihito meets the bright and attractive Michiko, and the two of them participate in a knockout match, and the person who loses the game will be eliminated. Before the match began, Akihito's guards approached Michiko and said that Michiko must lose to Crown Prince Akihito, or the Crown Prince's face would be ugly.
Michiko, who has been educated in the West for many years, does not care about this threat at all, she does not release the water at all, but wins the game strongly. What she did not expect was that it was this tennis match that made Akihito look at herself and launch a passionate pursuit.
Ryoko is annoyed to learn that her son has a crush on a commoner girl, but before she can do anything, Michiko's family sends her to Europe. In the hearts of Michiko's family, the imperial family is not a good place.
Who would have thought that Akihito would continue to pursue Michiko despite his mother's objections, and send officials from embassies everywhere to chase and block, forcing Michiko to return to Japan to face this relationship. In the end, Akihito said that his father Hirohito had come forward to finalize the marriage, which blocked the mouth of his mother Ryoko.
Despite this, Ryoko still treats Michiko in various small things, and often embarrasses Michiko outside, and the mother-in-law relationship between the two of them is recognized as poor in Japan. Because she had suffered such unfair treatment, Michiko was quite enlightened in the face of her daughter-in-law.
Emperor Naruhito's empress Dowager Masako had an empty sense of enterprise but nowhere to realize her personal value
Michiko and Akihito had two sons, the current Emperor Naruhito and Prince Fumihito. Both sons, like their father, married the daughter of a commoner, but the two women took two completely different paths.
From an early age, naruhito, the eldest son, was treated very well by the firstborn succession system of the Japanese imperial family, and often represented the Japanese imperial family at various banquets. At a banquet, Naruhito meets the love of his life: Masako.
At that time, Masako had already entered the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was a staff member at the banquet, and Naruhito fell in love with her at first sight at the banquet, and then began a fierce pursuit. But Masako is a typical professional woman who loves her diplomatic career and is not willing to give it up for a man.
In the Japanese imperial family, there is a rule: women who marry into the imperial family must not have their own independent jobs. In particular, such an important position as the future empress represents the image of the Japanese imperial family, how can you go out and show your face?
Soon, the Japanese imperial family used the excuse to put pressure on Masako's family, masako's father's position as a diplomat was threatened, and Masako had to leave Japan to study abroad. What the Japanese imperial family did not expect was that Naruhito's attachment to Masako was the same as his father's attachment to Michiko.
What really impressed Masako was Naruhito's telling Masako that she could better use her diplomatic skills in the position of empress. The naïve and simple Masako did not understand the cumbersome and heavy rules of the Japanese imperial family, and was full of joy that she could really use her talents in the position of empress at will in the future, so she agreed to Naruhito's marriage proposal.
When Masako actually married into the imperial family, she realized that she had thought things too simple. After resigning from her post in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Masako wanted to make a big fuss in the position of crown princess, but just after getting married, she was disembarked by the Japanese imperial family: they criticized Masako for not reading the script at the press conference announcing the engagement, and for speaking longer than Naruhito.
After that, the Japanese imperial family conducted very strict training on Masako's behavior, and even revoked Masako's right to go out, forcing her to give birth to an emperor with Naruhito as soon as possible. This decision was approved by Masako's mother-in-law, Michiko, much to Masako's disappointment.
Prior to this, Michiko was very friendly to Masako, often dispelling Masako's emotions and using her rights to secretly give Masako a lot of green lights. So Masako always thought that Michiko should be as silent as she was this time.
Crown Princess Noriko of Prince Wenren was ambitious and wanted to borrow her husband to ascend to a high position
But Michiko, who had experienced many years of royal life, understood that Masako could only gain more freedom if she gave birth to the eldest son of the emperor. However, Masako, who does not understand the internal affairs of the royal family, obviously cannot understand the good intentions of her mother-in-law, and she is unable to adapt to many of the "rules" of the royal family.
Her mother-in-law, Michiko, slowly learned how to live in the imperial family after many years, but Masako is still unable to communicate well with the imperial family, compared to Prince Fumihito's princess Noriko, who is much more "smart".
From the beginning of her contact with Fumihito, Noriko had a clear purpose: she wanted to marry into the Japanese imperial family and even become the empress of the Japanese emperor. In the process of marrying into the Japanese imperial family, Noriko always kept the rules of the imperial family firmly in mind and was committed to being a princess without any flaws.
In contrast to Masako, who suffers from depression because she does not want to have children, the Japanese imperial family is very satisfied with Noriko, after all, Noriko has done the work of "mascot" very well, which can be said to be a textbook-level "performance".
Noriko's marriage to Fumihito is also eyeing the throne of the emperor. Since he was a child, Wenren did not understand why the treatment gap between himself and his brother Naruhito was so large: the elder brother's servant could be 5 times his own; the elder brother could study abroad according to his own preferences and he could only study in China; if the elder brother did not want to get married, his wedding had to be postponed again and again...
All this stems from the "privileges" of the crown prince, which Wenren, who has felt this difference since childhood, has wanted to have these "privileges" for a long time. And Naruhito's childless marriage gave Bunjin this hope: if Naruhito did not give birth to the emperor's eldest son, but he himself gave birth to a son, would it be possible for him to take over the emperor's throne?
Thanks to the efforts of Fumihito and Noriko, the two gave birth to two daughters before Naruhito, which made the Japanese imperial family very angry: the emperor's eldest son had not yet been born, but the prince had been giving birth. So the imperial family found Noriko and forced her not to regenerate.
Noriko gently agreed, but Naruhito did not buy the royal family's account. After Masako gave birth to Princess Aiko, she suffered from postpartum depression, and the doctor said that her body was no longer suitable for reproduction, and Naruhito, who was distressed about his wife, simply announced that she would not have any more children.
According to the Japanese imperial law at this time, a woman had no right to inherit. The Japanese imperial family quickly approached Noriko, hoping that she would have another son and come out to stabilize the throne. Since then, Naruhito has worked to pass a law that women can inherit the throne, while Fumihito and Noriko have worked hard to spare tires.
Just as Naruhito was about to succeed, Noriko gave birth to a baby boy, the first baby boy in nearly four decades for the Japanese imperial family. As soon as the news was released, the law that Naruhito tried to pass that a woman could inherit the throne was completely out of the picture. Noriko's ambitions were fulfilled, and Fumihito became the first heir to the throne and became crown prince.
Looking at the history of the Japanese imperial family, it is not difficult to find many wonderful points, and there may be more "wonderful" waiting for us in the future.