Akitsune Awata

Akitsune Awata (Awata Akitune, May 13, 1920 – August 30, 2006) was a Japanese member of the Imperial Family and nobility, as well as an army officer. He was the third son of Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko; his mother was Princess Sawako, the ninth daughter of Emperor Meiji. His siblings included Prince Morihiro and Prince Morihiro, and his younger brother was Prince Toshihiko. He held the rank of Captain in the Imperial Army, was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, and held the title of Marquis. During his time as a member of the Imperial family, he was known as "Prince Akitune" (Akitsune-ō).

Life:

He was born on May 13, 1920, in Tokyo, as the third son of Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko and Princess Sawako. On May 13, 1940, he was elected as a member of the House of Peers as a member of the Imperial family. In September of the same year, he graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy (54th class). On October 25, 1940, his ennoblement as a commoner was approved through a petition, and he was stripped of his Imperial status, receiving the surname Awata and the title of Marquis. The surname "Awata" originates from the Ongoingin (Seigen-in) temple precinct located in the eastern Kyoto district of Awataguchi, where his grandfather Prince Chichibu Naruhiko served as chief abbot before his secularization. This made the Awata Marquis family the last family created in Japan under the kazoku (peerage) system.

He served until the end of World War II as a Captain in the Imperial Army, experiencing the war’s conclusion. With the enactment of the 1947 Constitution of Japan, the kazoku peerage system was abolished, and he lost his noble status. After the war, he graduated from Tokyo University of Agriculture and worked at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Construction Bureau.

In 1950, there is a recorded account of a conversation in which Director Tetsuji Tajima of the Imperial Household Agency, when presenting himself to Emperor Showa, also mentioned concerns about his wife’s health.

From 1956 onward, he worked at Ueno Zoo as a keeper, caring for various animals such as chickens and goats. In 1973, he transferred to Tama Zoological Park and continued until his retirement, serving as a senior outreach supervisor. Afterwards, he affiliated with the Horse Racing Culture Foundation (an organization related to the Japan Central Horse Racing Association).

In his family life, he and his wife, Hisao, had two sons: Tsuneichi Awata (born June 25, 1953) and Akihiko Awata (born December 3, 1955).

Honors:

Ranks:

- October 25, 1940 (Showa 15): Junior Fourth Rank

Medals and Decorations:

- August 15, 1940 (Showa 15): Commemorative Medal for the 2,600th Anniversary of the Imperial Line

- October 10, 1940: Order of the Rising Sun, Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum

- October 25, 1940: Marquis

Sources and References:

- Peers and Nobility Appointments (Part C), Revised December 1947, Bureau of the House of Peers, 1947.

- "History of the Parliamentary System - Directory of House of Peers and House of Councillors Members," Ministry of Finance Printing Bureau, 1990.