Prince Nobusuke Takatsukasa (鷹司 信輔, Takatsukasa Nobusuke, April 29, 1889–February 1, 1959), son of Hiromichi, was a Japanese nobleman and politician of the Meiji period (1868–1912) who served as a member of House of Peers in the Diet of Japan. Takatsukasa Nobuhiro was his brother, and Toshimichi was his son.[1] A keen ornithologist he went by the nickname of “Bird Prince” (Kotori no koshaku).
Takatsukasa graduated in zoology from the Imperial University of Tokyo (1914) where he studied under Isao Ijima and received a doctorate in 1943. He was a specialist on birds and published several papers and books on the birds of Japan, collaborating with other Japanese ornithologists including Y. Yamashina and M. U. Hachisuka.[2][3] He also worked with Oliver L. Austin Jr. (1903-1988). He was also a keen aviculturist. He presided over the Ornithological Society of Japan from 1922 to 1946. His books included Kaidori (1917), Kaidori Shusei (1930) and Japanese Birds (1941).[4] In 1944 he became high priest for the Meiji Shrine and was involved in the "Great Zoo Massacre" of 1943 at the Ueno zoological gardens. He presided over the "Memorial Service for Martyred Animals" following the killing of the animals.[5]
He married Yasuko Tokugawa (1897-1976), a descendant of Tokugawa Yoshinao. Their son Toshimichi married Kazuko Takatsukasa, daughter of Emperor Hirohito.[6]
References
edit- ^ 鷹司家（摂家） (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
- ^ Takatsukasa, N.; Kano, T. (1934). "Birds of Kashoto". Japanese Journal of Ornithology. 8 (38): 211–217. doi:10.3838/jjo1915.8.38_211. ISSN 0040-9480.
- ^ Taka-Tsukasa, N.; Hachisuka, M. U. (1925). "XLIII.-A Contribution to Japanese Ornithology". Ibis. 67 (4): 898–908. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1925.tb02137.x.
- ^ Delacour, Jean (1960). "Obituaries. Prince Nousuke Taka-Tsukasa" (PDF). The Auk. 77 (1): 118.
- ^ Miller, Ian Jared (2013). The Nature of the Beasts -Empire and Exhibition at the Tokyo Imperial Zoo. University of California Press. pp. 125–127.
- ^ Mohri, Hideo (2019). Imperial Biologists: The Imperial Family of Japan and Their Contributions to Biological Research. Springer Biographies. Singapore: Springer Singapore. doi:10.1007/978-981-13-6756-4. ISBN 978-981-13-6755-7. S2CID 85527908.
 | This biography of a Japanese noble is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |