The Empress Dowager, who died Friday afternoon aged 97, saw firsthand the sweeping changes that engulfed the Imperial system after World War II as the wife of Emperor Showa.
She was born March 6, 1903, the eldest daughter of Prince Kuni and Princess Chikako — the seventh daughter of Tadayoshi Shimazu, former daimyo of the powerful Satsuma domain, now Kagoshima Prefecture, in the Tokugawa period (1603-1867).
In January 1918 she was unofficially picked as the future bride for then Crown Prince Hirohito at the tender age of 14 while a student at Gakushuin Women's Middle School. At that time, only daughters of Imperial family members could marry princes.