Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi

Who was Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi?

Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi (8 December 1897 – 19 October 1938) was the eldest son of Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu, heir-apparent of the 25nd head of the Fushimi-no-miya shinnōke (collateral branch of the Imperial Family of Japan), and a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi was the eldest son and heir of Admiral of the Fleet Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu and his wife, the former Tokugawa Tsuneko. He graduated from the 45th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1920, ranked first in a class of 89 cadets. His fellow classmates included Kosaku Ariga, final captain of the battleship Yamato.

Prince Fushimi served his midshipman tour on the cruiser Iwate, and as a sub-lieutenant on the battleships Fusō and Kawachi. After completing coursework in naval artillery and torpedo warfare, he served as a crewman on Kongō, Hyūga, Kirishima and Hiei. After completing advanced training in torpedo warfare, he was assigned as Chief Torpedo officer on the destroyers Shimakaze, Numakaze, and cruisers Izumo and Naka. On 10 December 1928, he received his first command, the destroyer Kaba. He was subsequently captain of the destroyers Yomogi, Kamikaze, and Amagiri.

In 1933, the Prince was promoted to commander and became executive officer on the cruiser Naka, followed by the minelayer Itsukushima.

In 1936, Prince Fushimi became commander of the 3rd Destroyer Group, which was involved in combat in the Battle of Shanghai between Japanese and Chinese Nationalist forces during the opening stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War. On 25 September 1937, he was slightly injured in the Huangpu River during a bombardment operation. After recovery, he served as commander of the 6th Destroyer Group, assigned to patrols in the Yangtze River of China.

In April 1938, he was assigned back to Japan, where he became the instructor of a Naval War College.

On 19 October 1938, Prince Fushimi, who suffered from chronic asthma, died of myocardial infarction. It is said that the cause of his death was an unsuitable medicine which was injected by his doctor. His military rank was posthumously raised to captain.