| Takahito | |
 | |
| Birth: | 2 December 1915 Tokyo City, Empire of Japan |
| Death: | 27 October 2016 Tokyo, Japan |
| Age: | 100 years, 330 days |
| Country: |  JPN
|
| Centenarian | |
Takahito, Prince Mikasa (Japanese: 三笠宮崇仁親王) (2 December 1915 – 27 October 2016) was a Japanese prince and centenarian.
Biography[]
Prince Takahito Mikasa was born in Tokyo on 2 December 1915. He was a younger brother of Emperor Hirohito of Japan, who reigned during World War II, and the uncle of the emperor Akihito. He was the first member of the royal family to get a driver’s license and was an outspoken advocate of birth control. Takahito became an authority on ancient Asia and was the first Japanese royal to become a professor, teaching history at Tokyo Women’s Christian College.
In a 1994 interview with the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, he recalled, “I was strongly shocked when an officer told me that the best way to train new soldiers is to use a living prisoner of war as the target of bayonet practice.” After the war, he opposed his country’s rearmament.
On 2 December 2015, Prince Mikasa celebrated his 100th birthday and became a centenarian. He was one of the oldest living aristocrats in the world. Prince Takahito Mikasa died in Tokyo on 27 October 2016, aged 100 years, 330 days. At the time of his death, he was the fifth in line to the Japanese throne.
References[]
- Prince Mikasa, Brother of Emperor Hirohito of Japan, Dies at 100 The New York Times, 27 October 2016