Satoko Konoe

Sadako Konoé (born June 6, Meiji 4 / July 23, 1871 – August 15, 1945) was a Japanese woman, the stepmother and aunt of Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe.

Regarding her place of birth and date, she was born on June 6, Meiji 4 (July 23, 1871). Her father was the sixth daughter of the last lord of the Kaga Domain, Maeda Keizan. Her mother was Uro, a concubine (daughter of retainer Sakai Tadayoshi).

Sadako Konoé was initially married to Duke Atsumaro Konoe, who was the eldest brother of Atsumaro Konoe. She became his wife. Atsumaro's older sister, Yōko, gave birth to their eldest son, Fumimaro Konoe, in 1891 (Meiji 24), and died immediately afterward. Following this, in 1892 (Meiji 25), she remarried Atsumaro as his second wife.

She had children with Atsumaro: the eldest daughter Takeko Oyama (Lady Kashiho of Osaka Prefecture), the second son Hidemaro Konoe, the third son Naemaro Konoe, and the fourth son Tadomaru Mizutani. Fumimaro Konoe was not her biological child but was raised as her adopted son.

It is said that Sadako Konoé was not very favorable towards her daughter-in-law, Fumimaro Konoe. She allegedly said, "If only Fumimaro hadn’t been there, I could have made my own children heirs to the Konoe family." When Fumimaro, upon reaching adulthood, learned the circumstances of his birth, it reportedly shocked him and significantly affected his personality afterward.

Sadako Konoé died on August 15, 1945, the day Japan surrendered in World War II, at her private residence near the Yo-mei Bunko, in Uenotra, Kyoto, where she had taken refuge. She was 74 years old.

Related topics include the Konoe family, Atsumaro Konoe, and Fumimaro Konoe.