Prince Mikasa, a China war veteran who spanned three reigns, dies at 100 [View all]

[Cooley Hurd]

Source: Japan Times

Prince Mikasa, uncle of Emperor Akihito, died of heart failure on Thursday at a Tokyo hospital, the Imperial Household Agency said. He was 100.

The prince, the oldest member of the Imperial family, was the youngest brother of Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa.

<snip>

During the 1937-1945 Sino-Japanese war, Prince Mikasa served as an officer of the Imperial Army in China under a pseudonym, Wakasugi.

During the Sino-Japanese war, he was critical of Japan’s aggression into China. Then in the postwar years, the prince emphasized the importance of peace.

In a 1994 interview with Yomiuri Shimbun, the prince criticized the Japanese Imperial Army for invading China and committing atrocities there.

Read more: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/10/27/national/prince-mikasa-china-war-veteran-spanned-three-reigns-dies-100/#.WBH1gS0rLIU

---

The last of Emperor Shōwa's (Hirohito) brothers...