Setsuko Matsudaira was born in the Surrey town of Walton-on-Thames, the daughter of Tsuneo Matsudaira, the Japanese Ambassador to Washington and London. In 1910, when she was one year old, she returned to Japan. Her father was in the midst of forging a brilliant career in the diplomatic service. Both her parents descended from daimyo families, and this lineage – still important in early twentieth-century Japan – was to direct the course of Setsuko’s life.
Due to her father’s various postings, Setsuko’s education was multi-cultural. She attended primary school at the British concession in Tientsin, China, where her father was posted as a consul-general. At nine, when her father took over as head of the European and American Bureau Foreign Office in Tokyo, Setsuko moved to the Peeresses School. During this period, her mother became a lady-in-waiting for Empress Nagako.
In 1924, her father was appointed ambassador to the United States in the aftermath of the anti-Japanese Immigration Act. Setsuko, then 15, attended the Sidwell Friends School, a Quaker institution in Washington, D.C. To be accepted, she had to quickly learn English as a second language. She was not distressed by this requirement, in fact, it was reported she was “delighted” to be excused from the otherwise mandatory Latin lessons. She also enjoyed this period, since she saw more of her parents than she had throughout her childhood.
It all ended when she turned 18 and was engaged to Prince Chichibu. She did not know him well, having met him only a few times earlier. The Prince studied in England, and he would visit Washington on his way home to Japan. Her mother’s service to the Dowager Empress of Japan had placed Setsuko firmly on the Imperial family radar. Although she was a commoner, she was suitable for marriage because of her high shizoku lineage. Still, Setsuko had to be adopted by her high-ranking uncle before marrying the prince in 1928, shortly before the coronation of her husband’s brother, Hirohito.
Later, Setsuko reminisced that she had wanted to go to a university and study science. She co-authored an autobiography, The Silver Drum, where she discussed her initial difficulties in mastering court etiquette. The autobiography focused on her love and devotion to the prince who was pursuing a military career.
In 1936, a coup was attempted against the Japanese government, and Prince Chichibu may or may not have had direct involvement in the affair. It was rumored that there were many “violent” disagreements between Prince Chichibu and his brother, Emperor Hirohito, about the suspension of the constitution and the implementation of direct imperial rule. As a result, during 1937 the Prince and Princess were sent on a protracted tour of Western Europe, including attendance at the coronation of King George VI. During their visit, the couple visited both Queen Mary at Marlborough House and the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace.
The war years and the following years of occupation were difficult for the Princess. The country was reeling from the ravages of war and her husband, still in a contentious relationship with his brother the Emperor, was in poor health due to increasingly debilitating tuberculosis. Setsuko, however, remained popular – much more so than even the Empress – with the Japanese population.
Within the Imperial family, she was useful. She knew English and was the designated female family member used to meet foreign dignitaries. She was a cheerful and charming diplomat at official functions. The Princess had a miscarriage early in her marriage and did not have any children, but she had a full life with her round of duties in the Imperial family.
After the Occupation ended and her husband died, Princess Chichibu moved to Tokyo. Her high energy level, so curtailed during the war, occupation, and her husband’s ill health was unleashed. She became a patron of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society, the Japan Red Cross Society, the Japan-British Society, and the Japan-Sweden Society. She met with Eleanor Roosevelt, made several highly publicized trips to Great Britain, and was made an Honorary Dame Cross of the Order of the British Empire.
Princess Chichibu lived a long life, dying from heart failure in 1995, just before her 86th birthday.