The first reaction of many people in the Japanese imperial family is that it is old-fashioned, conservative, repressive, and the key is to favor sons over women, even to the point where "male theory" male is everything.
To put it bluntly, successive Japanese empresses must have sons, and it is best to have more sons. If you don't give birth to a son, your life in the royal family will be very miserable! Tragically, as much as Empress Masako was forced to give birth to a child, she suffered from depression, but when we want to say that the empress who gave birth to a son, we usually think of Empress Michiko, because Empress Michiko was left with her son, Emperor Naruhito, in the second year of marrying into the imperial family.
Among the five consecutive empresses of Japan, Empress Miko is the most imposing
In fact, the most powerful person in the matter of having a son was not Empress Michiko but her mother-in-law, Empress Sadaaki, the wife of Emperor Kahito of Taisho. But the most tragic thing about giving birth to a son is undoubtedly the current Empress Masako!!!
Emperor Taisho and Empress Setsuko
Empress Zhenming's old name was Kujo Setsuko. The Kujo clan belonged to one of the Five Regents, and had several empresses and held a high status. When Empress Zhenming was not out of the cabinet, she was known as the "Black Lady of the Kujō Family", and her skin may be biased towards wheat color, and she is in good health. These conditions put her in the eyes of her mother-in-law, Empress Miko, who decided to make her a daughter-in-law.
Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law
On May 10, 1900, at the age of 21, Kahito married The Fourth Daughter of The Duke of Kujō Michihito, Kujo Setsuko, the future Empress Seimei.
Emperor Kahito was also a pioneer of monogamy
Empress Jiezi lived up to expectations and gave birth to four sons in a row. On April 29, 1901, he gave birth to his eldest son, Hirohito, who had a son less than a year after marriage. On June 25, 1902, he was born with his next son, Yongren. On January 3, 1905, he gave birth to his third son, Prince Xuanren. Look at the speed at which Empress Jiezi gave birth to a son is really powerful, less than five years after marriage and three sons!!! The speed of this son, how could the Japanese imperial family not like this daughter-in-law? Empress Setsuko may have felt that her three sons were a bit too much or wanted to have another daughter, so on December 2, 1915, she had another son, her youngest son, Prince Chongren!
It is said that the Japanese Imperial Household Agency loves to bully people, but in the face of such a strong queen, she cannot play a prestige, but instead tries to please Empress Jiezi.
When Emperor Kahito ascended the throne in 1912, he had two sons and three sons
Empress Setsuko's four sons
They all watched Empress Ryoko fiercely bully Michiko, but Empress Ryoko did not even lose her temper at all when she faced empress dowager Jiezi, who was stronger than her. Empress Liangzi gave birth to four daughters in a row, which definitely made Empress Jiezi look down on it, even if Liangzi gave birth to two sons, she still couldn't look at it. Rawly, he pressed Empress Ryoko to the ground and rubbed it for half a lifetime, until she died.
In Japan, the only way to walk in the Imperial Family is not to be bullied, but there are many sons like Empress Setsuko, and having sons not only likes the imperial family but also fat and arrogant palace hall. The Miyado bullied Michiko, Masako, and even Ryoko, but had never heard of Empress Dowager Seiko! That's how important it is to have sons.
The only way to change the embarrassing situation of "having a son and having a status can not be bullied" is that the Japanese imperial family reformed the succession law to allow women to inherit the throne, but according to the current development of the Japanese imperial family, it cannot be changed in a short period of time.