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Japan's Prince Mikasa, who fought war in China under a fake name, dies at 100

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Prince Mikasa in 1936 in Narashino, Japan. He graduated from the Military Staff College in 1941 and was posted to Nanjing, China, as an Imperial Japanese Army officer under a pseudonym in 1943. Photo: Asahi Shimbun/Getty
The 100-year-old uncle of Japanese Emperor Akihito, Prince Mikasa, died on Thursday, leaving only four heirs to the Chrysanthemum throne.
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Mikasa’s death coincides with renewed attention to the future of the ageing and shrinking imperial family and whether women should be allowed to inherit the throne, breaking a males-only succession tradition that conservatives say is central to an imperial tradition stretching back 2,600 years.

Mikasa was the youngest brother of the current emperor’s father, Hirohito, in whose name Japan fought the second world war.

He was the only living member with military experience in the imperial family and he often spoke of the importance of peace after the war.

Prince Mikasa and his wife Princess Yuriko at their residence in Tokyo in 2015. File photo: Reuters
Prince Mikasa and his wife Princess Yuriko at their residence in Tokyo in 2015. File photo: Reuters
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After graduating from the Military Academy in 1936, the prince served in the cavalry regiment. He graduated from the Military Staff College in 1941 and was posted to Nanjing, China, as an Imperial Japanese Army officer under a pseudonym in 1943.

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