Was Emperor Hirohito Born Out of Wedlock?
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According to the Imperial Household Agency, Prince Yoshihito (who was to become Emperor Taisho afterwards) and Princess Sadako were married in a small ceremony at eight o’clock in the morning on May 10, 1900; at the Imperial Shrine on the palace grounds in Tokyo. Only members of their immediate families attended the rites, and on April 29, 1901; nearly one year after the wedding, their first son, Hirohito, was born.
At least, that is the official story given and repeated in most histories of Japan. But court gossip tells another tale, and its version is strongly supported by Count Yoshinori Futara, the personal “public relations adviser” of the Emperor for a time, who wrote in 1928 that Prince Hirohito was “born on the night of April 29, 1900″ – exactly one year before the date that is officially presented to the public.
