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*''Japanese:'' 和宮 ''Kazu-no-Miya (Princess Kazu)''
*''Personal name:'' 親子 ''Chikako''
*''Buddhist name:'' 静寛院宮 ''Seikan-in-no-miya''
*''Born: 1846
*Died: 1877''
*Distinction: Sister of [[Emperor Komei|Emperor Kômei]], wife of Shogun [[Tokugawa Iemochi]]''
Kazu-no-Miya was the daughter of [[Emperor Ninko|Emperor Ninkô]] (1800-1846). She was engaged to Prince Arisugawa-no-Miya Naruhito, but later her marriage with the young shogun Iemochi was decided upon as part of the "[[Kobu Gattai|Kôbu Gattai]] ("Union of Emperor and Shogunate") policy. In [[1861]] she went to Edo via the [[Nakasendo Highway]] in a huge procession<ref>For the logistical problems involved, see "The Story of Princess Kazunomiya" http://hkuhist2.hku.hk/nakasendo/kazunomy.htm</ref>and married Iemochi the [[1862|next year]].
However, Iemochi died in [[1866]], and Kazu-no-Miya became a nun, taking the name Seikan-in. At the end of the [[Boshin War]] she, the aunt of [[Emperor Meiji]], appealed to the victors for the continuance of the Tokugawa family.
She died of beriberi in [[1877]] and was given a splendid state funeral procession.<ref> Described in detail in Clara A. N. Whitney, ''Clara's Diary: An American Girl in Meiji Japan,'' Kodansha, 1979.</ref>
<References/>
==References==
*Nihon-shi Jiten 日本史辞典 ''(Dictionary of Japanese History)'', Obunsha, 2000.
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Nobility]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Bakumatsu]]