# Setsuko, Princess Chichibu

Setsuko, Princess Chichibu (雍仁親王妃勢津子, Yasuhito Shinnōhi Setsuko, born Setsuko Matsudaira (松平節子, Matsudaira Setsuko); 9 September 1909 – 25 August 1995) was a member of the Japanese imperial family and the wife of Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu, the second son of Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei. Setsuko was a sister-in-law of Emperor Shōwa and an aunt by marriage of Emperor Akihito.

## Early life

Setsuko Matsudaira was born on 9 September 1909 in Walton-on-Thames, England, into the prominent Matsudaira family. Her father, Tsuneo Matsudaira, was a diplomat and politician who later served as the Japanese ambassador to the United States (1924) and later to United Kingdom (1928), and still later, Imperial Household Minister (1936–45, 1946–47). Her mother, Nobuko Nabeshima, was a member of the Nabeshima family. Her paternal grandfather, Katamori Matsudaira, was the last daimyō of the Aizu Domain and head of the Aizu-Matsudaira cadet branch of the Tokugawa. Her maternal grandfather, Marquis Naohiro Nabeshima, was the former daimyō of the Saga Domain. Her mother's elder sister, Itsuko (1882–1976), married Prince Morimasa Nashimoto, an uncle of Empress Kōjun. Despite her prestigious heritage, Setsuko was technically born a commoner, but both sides of her family maintained kinship with distinguished kazoku aristocratic families close to the Japanese Imperial Family.
From 1925 to 1928, Setsuko was educated at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. while her father was ambassador to the United States. Setsuko was fluent in English and was sometimes considered to be a Kikokushijo. Upon her return to Japan, Setsuko was chosen by Empress Teimei to marry her second son, Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu, despite the fact she was a commoner. Setsuko married the Prince after her uncle, Viscount Morio Matsudaira, formally adopted her, thus removing the status incongruity between the prince and his bride.

## Marriage

On 28 September 1928, aged 19, Setsuko wed Prince Chichibu, and became Princess Chichibu. The bride and groom were eighth cousins, thrice removed, as both were descended from Nabeshima Katsushige, the first lord of Saga. Prince and Princess Chichibu had no children, as Princess Chichibu's only pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. However, by all accounts their marriage was filled with love and happiness for each other.
In 1937, the prince and princess were sent on a tour of Western Europe which took several months. They represented Japan at the May 1937 coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Westminster Abbey and subsequently visited Sweden and the Netherlands as the guests of King Gustav V and Queen Wilhelmina, respectively. Princess Chichibu stayed in Switzerland while her husband met Adolf Hitler in Nuremberg at the end of the trip. Princess Chichibu felt a great love for the United States and for the United Kingdom and, as an anglophile, was greatly saddened by Japan's entry into the Second World War on the side of the Axis powers.

## Widowhood

After the Prince's death of tuberculosis in 1953, Princess Chichibu became president of the Society for the Prevention of Tuberculosis, honorary president of the Britain-Japan Society, the Sweden-Japan Society, and an honorary vice president of the Japanese Red Cross The Princess made several semi-official visits to Great Britain and Sweden.

## Death

Princess Chichibu died from heart failure in Tokyo on 25 August 1995, shortly before her 86th birthday. Princess Chichibu's autobiography, which was published posthumously as The Silver Drum: A Japanese Imperial Memoir, was translated into English by Dorothy Britton.

## Honours

* Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown, 1st Class - 1928
* United Kingdom: Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George

## Ancestry

Ancestors of Setsuko, Princess Chichibu :

### Patrilineal descent
## Footnotes

* ↑ Sakata, Ikuko (March 1988). "Special Feature : Imperial Factions — Imperial Households of the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa Era — Princess Chichibunomiya Setsuko, a marriage of the Imperial Family -- a bride from the Aizu clan, or the Imperial Enemy" 特集 天皇家の閨閥--明治･大正･昭和の皇室 天皇家の結婚 秩父宮妃勢津子--朝敵「会津」の嫁入り. Rekishi Dokuhon. 33 (5 (472)). Kadokawa Publication: 102～109 (plate number 0053.jp2-).
* ↑ Itō, Zensō (伊藤善創) (2018). Princess Chichibunomiya Setsuko, the Granddaughter to Matsudaira Katamori of the Aizu clan : Praying for the 90th Wedding Anniversary : 150th Anniversary of the Meiji Era 会津松平容保公御孫姫秩父宮妃勢津子さま : ご成婚九十周年を祈念して : 明治150年企画 (in Japanese). Fukushima Mimpō Newspaper (contibutor. 編集協力: 福島民報社). Fukushima: Mimpo Printing (民報印刷 制作・印刷). ISBN 978-4-904834-37-4.
* ↑ Roosevelt, Eleanor (May 28, 1953). "1953 – My Day". The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Digital Edition (www.gwu.edu).
* ↑ Okamoto 1928, p. 76 (plate number 0045.jp2)
* ↑ Matsudaira, Tsunekazu (松平恒忠). "Memories of Grandfather Matsudaira Tsuneo and Aunt Princess Chichibunomiya Setsuko" 祖父松平恒雄と叔母秩父宮妃勢津子の思い出. Rekishi to Tabi (歴史と旅). 24 (9 (368)): 128–133 (plate number 0067.jp2-).
* ↑ Kampō 1928a, pp. 675
* ↑ Kampō 1928b, pp. 741 (plate number 0002.jp2), "Announcement / Kunaishō / Number 29 / Marriage notice of Prince Yasuhito with the niece of Viscount Matsudaira Yasuo"
* 1 2 Kampō 1928b, pp. 746 (plate number 0005.jp2), "Announcement/ Naimushō / Number 256 / Decorations and appointments (Shōkunkyoku) – as of 28 September Shōwa 3rd (1928); Princess Setsuko of Prince Chichibunomiya Yasuhito – Appointed to the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown (1st class)."
* 1 2 "Genealogy". Reichsarchiv (in Japanese). 8 May 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
* 1 2 Bungei shunjū 1973
* ↑ Female staff writer (May 1929). "The Daily Life of Her Imperial Highness Princess Chichibunomiya Setsuko" 秩父宮妃勢津子殿下の御日常. Shufu No Tomo. 13 (5 (May issue)). Shufu no tomo-sha: 35–38 (plate number 0063.jp2-).
* ↑ Gotemba seiwa 1948
* ↑ Chichibunomiya Setsuko (January 1949). "Amerika no gaku'en seikatsu wo shinonde" アメリカの学園生活を偲んで. New Age (ニューエイジ). 1 (1). Mainichi Newspaper: 26- (plate number 0015.jp2). doi:10.11501/2310430.
* ↑ Kase 1995, pp. 25–27
* ↑ NDL digital collection 1995
* ↑ Chichibunomiya Setsuko (January 1951). "Congratulatory Remarks : National Health and the Mission of the Association" 祝辞 国民の健康と協会の任務. Journal of the Japanese Nursing Association. 3 (6): 5 (plate number 0006.jp2).
* ↑ Murayama, Tomi'ichi (April 1998). Cabinet Secretariat (Japan) (ed.). "A tribute to the late Her Imperial Highness Princess Chichibunomiya Setsuko (25 August 1995)" 秩父宮妃勢津子殿下のご訃報に接しての謹話 (平成7・8・25). 村山内閣総理大臣演説集 (in Japanese). Nihon Kōhō Kyōkai (日本広報協会): 112.
* ↑ Kirimo: Commemorating the Completion of the Relief of Her Imperial Highness Chichibunomiya Setsuko きりも : 秩父宮妃勢津子殿下御尊影レリーフ完成記念 (in Japanese). Ōtaki Village (Saitama Prefecture): Chichibunomiya Setsuko-hi Rerīfu kensetsu Īnkai. 2000.
* ↑ Chichibunomiya Setsuko (August 1991). "For my memoir "Silver Bonbonniere"" 回想記｢銀のボンボニエール｣に寄せて. Bungei Shunjū (文芸春秋). 69 (9). Bungeishunjū: 92–93 (plate number 0069.jp2-). doi:10.11501/3198575 – via NDL.