Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni

Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni was a member of the Japanese imperial family and a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. He was the ninth son of Prince Kuni Asahiko, a grandson of Emperor Ninkyo, and a half-brother of the Empress Kojun. He married Princess Yasu, the eighth daughter of Emperor Meiji, in 1915 and had four sons. He rose to the rank of general and commanded various army units, including the air service, the 2nd army, and the general defense command. He was also an avid supporter of the imperial way faction and a proponent of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. He was appointed as the prime minister of Japan by Emperor Hirohito after the surrender of Japan in World War II, becoming the first and only imperial prince to head a cabinet. He tried to implement democratic reforms and purge the militarists, but faced strong opposition from the conservative forces and the Allied occupation authorities. He resigned after 54 days in office and was succeeded by Kijuro Shidehara. He was the founder and the first president of the Chiba Institute of Technology, a private university that focuses on engineering and science. He lived until the age of 102, becoming one of the longest-lived members of any royal family. He was the last surviving general of the Imperial Japanese Army and the last prime minister of the pre-war era. He was also the great-grandfather of Princess Mako, the eldest daughter of Prince Akishino.