Yanagiwara Mitsunaru

Mitsunaru Yanagihara was a court noble and aristocrat from the late Edo period into the Meiji era. He was the 21st head of the Yanagihara family and served as an external-grandfather to Emperor Taishō. He was also the great-grandfather of Princess Yuriko, the wife of Prince Takahito of Mikasa.

Detailed records of his life are scarce. His father was Takamitsu Yanagihara, and his mother was Noriko, the daughter of Prince Sanjō Naomura. Mitsunaru Yanagihara was appointed to the rank of Junior Second Rank and was a provisional Grand Minister of State and counselor. During the late Edo period, he engaged in political activities.

In 1858 (Awise 5), he participated in the event involving the participation of eighty-eight courtiers. During the closing years of the Edo period, he was active as a supporter of the union between court and shogunate. In 1863 (Bunkyu 3), he was dispatched as an imperial envoy to Ise Shrine along with Sanemon Hashimoto, aiming to realize the expulsion of foreigners. He was appointed as a supervisor for the restoration of imperial tombs and achieved recognition for his efforts. Later, on May 2, 1865 (Kyōō 1, old calendar), he was again dispatched as an imperial envoy to the tomb of Emperor Shōkō.

In his personal life, his wife was Yoshiko Yoshida, daughter of Yoshida Ryoana. They had several children, including a son, Mitsunaru Yanagihara, who died young. Another wife was Yano Hasegawa, born in 1832 (Tempo 3) and deceased on April 9, 1891 (Meiji 24). She was the daughter of Yuki Hasegawa, a shrine-centered family at Kamigamo Shrine. His other children included sons Maemitsu Yanagihara and Tamefuku Irie, as well as daughters Aiko Yanagihara, Toshiko Yanagihara, and Hama Yanagihara.

Aiko Yanagihara served as a court lady-in-waiting for Emperor Meiji and later became the mother of Emperor Taishō. Toshiko Yanagihara was known as the consort of Prince Tamesuki Keizō.

References include works such as Nagakiyo Ueda’s "The Imperial Court's 'Authority' and Local Society: A Case Study of Tumuli in Yamashiro Province" and 『Research on the Emperor and Imperial Court in the Early Modern Period』, No. 1 (Gakushuin University Institute for Humanities, 2008).

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