Kuniie, Prince Fushimi (伏見宮邦家親王, Fushimi-no-miya Kuniie-shinnō, 24 October 1802 – 5 August 1872) was Japanese royalty. He was the 20th/23rd prince head of the House of Fushimi and the eldest son of Prince Fushimi Sadayuki (1776–1841)[1] and his concubine Seiko,[note 1] which made him an 11th cousin of Emperor Sakuramachi. Despite being merely a distant cousin to the emperors, he was adopted by Emperor Kōkaku as a son in 1817, which made him a full prince of the blood just like an emperor's natural-born son.[1]
Prince Kuniie became head of the Fushimi-no-miya after the death of his father in 1841. But soon, in 1842, his eldest (natural) son, Zaihan (later Prince Yamashina Akira) ran away with his aunt Princess Takako, while Zaihan was a monk in Kajū-ji. Because of this scandal, the prince soon had to abdicate in favor of the only son of his wife, Prince Sadanori, who was the sixth out of 17 sons of his father. Prince Kuniie took the name Zengaku (禪樂) as a monk afterwards. In 1864, Kuniie succeeded as Prince Fushimi-no-miya again. After Emperor Meiji moved the capital of Japan to Tokyo, Prince Kuniie left Kyoto and moved to Tokyo with his family in 1872. He abdicated again to his second son (or 14th), Prince Sadanaru, lived in seclusion, and died the same year.
On January 9, 1836, Prince Kuniie married Takatsukasa Hiroko (1814–1892), daughter of Takatsukasa Masahiro (also, a second cousin of Emperor Ninkō paternally) and had had 7 children.Beside his legal wife, the prince had nine concubine with whom he fathered 24 children.
Consort and issue(s):
Consort (Hi) : Takatsukasa Hiroko (鷹司景子, 15 January 1814– 28 September 1892), daughter of Takatsukasa Masahiro (鷹司 政煕)
Sixth Son: Prince Fushimi Sadanori (伏見宮貞教親王, 26 October 1836 – 16 December 1862)
^ abWhile Fushimi Sadayuki's official wife was Ichijo Teruko (1795–1828, daughter of Ichijō Teruyoshi), it's known that Seiko was an adopted daughter of Niwata Shigeyoshi.[1]
