Japan's most beautiful civilian empress: tortured by her mother-in-law for 41 years, but she wants to attack her daughter-in-law?
There was a public opinion survey in Japan, which was based on the impressions of the emperors of modern Japan. When Emperor Meiji is mentioned, the vast majority of Japanese people talk about the Meiji Restoration; when Emperor Showa is mentioned, the vast majority of Japanese people talk about World War II; but when Emperor Heisei is mentioned, the vast majority of Japanese people will invariably emphasize that he married a commoner empress. This almost well-known civilian empress in Japan is Michiko, who is known as "one person raising the average appearance of the Japanese imperial family".
Michiko, who is now the empress, was named Masada Michiko before marriage, and her origin is said to have nothing to do with the imperial family, which is why she will be called the proper "commoner empress". However, if you think that her story is as inspirational as Cinderella in the fairy tale, michiko, although not from the royal family, is not an ordinary family, her grandfather Sadaichiro Shoichiro and father Hidezaburo Shoda were once famous Japanese industrialists, and Michiko can be regarded as a veritable "rich third generation".
As a young woman, Michiko grew up in an elite family that led the way of the times, and she was a Buddhist, but she attended the Christian-style Sacred Heart Girls' School in middle school. During her studies, Michiko was polite, full of vitality, and excellent grades, and has always held the position of president of the student council. So much so that a teacher made a rather labelly comment on her: "You seem to be a perfect girl, but no flaws seem to be your biggest flaws." ”
Michiko and Akihito met at a tennis tournament in August 1957, when Akihito, who was crown prince, was seduced by Michiko's wit and bravery on the court, and began a fierce pursuit. In April of the following year, the marriage of Akihito and Michiko was formally proposed, and although it was opposed by the stubborn members based on the maintenance of the imperial bloodline, the support of Emperor Showa became the biggest help in the union of Michiko and Akihito. On April 10, 1959, Michiko and Akihito held a grand wedding.
To Michiko's surprise, marriage is not the end of all tribulations, but the beginning of all stress. The noblewomen in the court blamed and picked at this princess who was born a commoner and did not understand the etiquette of the royal family, the most obvious of which was her mother-in-law, Empress Liangzi, and even Empress Liangzi often let her female official Baoke remind her that "in front of Her Highness, don't be too nosy, in front of the Empress, less insider."
After marriage, Michiko was tortured by her mother-in-law for 41 years with various royal dogmas, and even suffered from myocardial ischemia, aphasia and depression. Even so, she also worked hard to reform the stereotypes of the imperial family under various pressures, such as abandoning the nursing mothership that had lasted for hundreds of years in the Japanese imperial family, insisting on breastfeeding her son Naruhito, and showing a different style from other royal heirs when visiting foreign countries, so that she was praised by Western public opinion as "the mill girl of the past, the princess of today".
Perhaps because of her long-term residence in the Japanese Imperial Family, or perhaps because she was tortured by her mother-in-law for 41 years, Michiko also embarked on a path of evil mother-in-law for her daughter-in-law, Emperor Naruhito's empress Masako. Masako and Michiko actually have a lot in common, both are born civilians, both are proficient in many foreign languages, and both have both appearance and temperament, and their reputation among the Japanese people is very high. However, for the various restrictions that Masako received when she first entered the royal family, Michiko chose to ignore them.
After experiencing the storm of not giving birth to a male heir and not having a birthday for Michiko, Michiko has become more and more impatient with Masako, but in the eyes of many Japanese media, compared to what Michiko experienced in those years, Michiko's torture of Masako is simply a breeze and drizzle. Perhaps for the three generations of Japanese empresses, Ryoko, Michiko, and Masako, what really tormented them was not their mutual inclination, but the red tape of the Japanese imperial family itself.
After many years of daughter-in-law becoming a mother-in-law, Masako has also suffered from depression, but now she has finally become an empress, but it is left to us to observe whether this similar tragedy of the Japanese empress can end at Masako's hands.