Yoshihito

Yoshihito (1879-1926) is the personal name of an Emperor of Japan, the son of Mutsohito, the Meiji Emperor, and father of Hirohito, the Showa Emperor. Referring to him by reign name, he is the Taisho Emperor. His influence was much less than that of his father or his son, in part due to his personality and in part due to chronic illness.

He reigned between 1912 and 1926, so was the monarch during the First World War and the Siberian Intervention. His effects on World War Two in the Pacific, therefore, were indirect, more through the officials that gained power through his patronage and that of his regents and courtiers.

Yoshihito, when not ill, was unusually friendly and informal for an Emperor, and far more so than the imperious and gloomy Mutsohito. As was customary at the time, he was brought up away from his parents, the Emperor and an official concubine, Lady Naruko. While there is no definitive diagnosis, her first two children died of neurologic conditions, and Yoshohito may have had neonatal meningitis.

His health declined in 1916, including balance and impulse control problems. Again, there is no hard diagnostic information, but this would not be inconsistent with central nervous system damage in early life. He suffered several strokes from 1919 onwards, and died of pneumonia.