Will Kürlich Kerl
Banned
THe Challenge is how to make the Japanese royal family marry into the various European royal families.
AHC: Japanese Royal Family marries into some European Royal Families
- Thread starter Will Kürlich Kerl
- Start date
How about if one of the nobility in Europe royally messes up or makes enemies and they are sent to live in Japan as a diplomat and the Japanese government decides to tie into the Royal Family or something.
What would be even more interesting is a Romanov ends up marrying into the family and when the revolution sweeps Russia, Japan installs the Emperor as the "next Romanov" and keeps Vladivostok
What would be even more interesting is a Romanov ends up marrying into the family and when the revolution sweeps Russia, Japan installs the Emperor as the "next Romanov" and keeps Vladivostok
The religious differences could be a problem. Were there any members of the Japanese Imperial Family who became Christians?
I imagine they'd be in serious trouble with the rest of their kin, given how pre-WWII the Emperor was viewed as a god, but this could have a silver lining--if the Japanese wanted a marital alliance with a Christian state, it would now be much easier.
That being said, Japan's greater involvement with the outside world came at a time of greater "scientific" racism.
Now, if Japan never went isolationist, this marital alliance could occur before the rise of "scientific racism" and be much easier, especially if there aren't religious differences.
However, that's pre-1900.
I imagine they'd be in serious trouble with the rest of their kin, given how pre-WWII the Emperor was viewed as a god, but this could have a silver lining--if the Japanese wanted a marital alliance with a Christian state, it would now be much easier.
That being said, Japan's greater involvement with the outside world came at a time of greater "scientific" racism.
Now, if Japan never went isolationist, this marital alliance could occur before the rise of "scientific racism" and be much easier, especially if there aren't religious differences.
However, that's pre-1900.
That might be a good post-1900 scenario. Bonus points if said Romanov is cast out for his marriage (due to the bride being non-Orthodox, non-Christian period, or simply not asking permission), is made Emperor of some rump Siberian state, and we have a permanent split in House Romanov between powerless exiles who have a better dynastic claim and someone who is an actual Russian emperor, albeit a puppet.
See this: https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=232707
Note you'll have to change the Imperial Household Law's provision that Imperial must marry someone in the Imperial circle.
Note you'll have to change the Imperial Household Law's provision that Imperial must marry someone in the Imperial circle.
The current Empress is FROM a Catholic family, though I don't know if she still practices. Wikipedia lists her religion as simply Shinto.
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I could see it happening with the latest generation of the Japanese Royal Family - especially given what lookers some of the Princesses are 
Here is an idea:
King Christian IX of Denmark's daughter Thyra marries into the Imperial family:
Thyra: born 1853 marries Emepror Komei (born 1846).
Thyra did marry August of Hannover, 3rd duke of Cumberland, but not in this.
THAT means that Europe/Asia looks like:
Frederik VIII married to Louise from SWEDEN
Alexandra marries Edward VII of UK
George marries Olga from Russia and becomes King of Greece
Dagmar marries Alexander III of Russia
Valdemar marries Orleans
Now, that will mean than emperor Meiji is related to Nicholas II: Will war with Russia become impossible?
All will still meet in Denmark for the different shoots at that time. Chr IX was not called "Europe's father-in-law" for nothing.
Now, what if one of th emeprors's family is marrying into the American power-circles?
Ivan
King Christian IX of Denmark's daughter Thyra marries into the Imperial family:
Thyra: born 1853 marries Emepror Komei (born 1846).
Thyra did marry August of Hannover, 3rd duke of Cumberland, but not in this.
THAT means that Europe/Asia looks like:
Frederik VIII married to Louise from SWEDEN
Alexandra marries Edward VII of UK
George marries Olga from Russia and becomes King of Greece
Dagmar marries Alexander III of Russia
Valdemar marries Orleans
Now, that will mean than emperor Meiji is related to Nicholas II: Will war with Russia become impossible?
All will still meet in Denmark for the different shoots at that time. Chr IX was not called "Europe's father-in-law" for nothing.
Now, what if one of th emeprors's family is marrying into the American power-circles?
Ivan
Prince Asaka converted to Roman Catholicism, but that was in 1951, so he was already a commoner by then. I was under the impression that he was Emperor Showa's uncle, but he's actually the Emperor's uncle-in-law. Also, a quick search on Wikipedia shows that Prince Asaka's claim to the imperial throne is through descent from Emperor Suko (r. 1348-1351), so I don't know if you would personally consider him a member of the Imperial Family (there's also a Northern and Southern Courts issue at play, but I doubt many people would care to discuss it).
There's at least one member of the Imperial Family that married a Catholic: Prince Mikasa's son Tomohito. I am unconvinced by rumors that the Akihito's brother and wife are actually Christians though. I mean, perhaps Empress Michiko's Catholic family actually did baptize her when she was born, contrary to official claims. To me, that's not enough to convince me that she is actually Catholic.
The official stance is (at least when I checked 5 minutes ago) that Empress Michiko is not a Christian and that she was not baptized as a Christian. On the last part, I would think that good Catholic fathers and mothers would automatically have their kids baptized, so it seems unusual to me that the Empress' parents would have committed a technical violation of canon law, but I couldn't add anything definitive to this.
Marrying outside the approved aristocratic group would have been unthinkable for the upper echelon of Japan. aside from religious & legal restrictions the politics of Japans leading families were intertwined with who married whom.. It was all as carefully contrived as a Kabuki play. The PoD would need to be in the 19th Century & involve a European power actually exerting enough military & political power to make Japan a colony, something like the British Raj in India. A shotgun marriage in the US vernacular.
Even today the Japanese are loathe to admit the slightest possibility that the Royal family may have been 'contaminated' by Koreans during the ancient Korean invasion. The Korean version is they conquored much of Japan, and replaced a number of Japanese aristocratic families with their own, & intermarried with others. The Japanese version is Korean based pirates briefly disrupted parts of coastal Japan & then were exterminated. Back when I lived in Japan I heard claims Japanese acheologists avoided opening historic sites that might prove one version or another of that era.
Perhaps some expert on Japanese history here can clarify all this for us.
Even today the Japanese are loathe to admit the slightest possibility that the Royal family may have been 'contaminated' by Koreans during the ancient Korean invasion. The Korean version is they conquored much of Japan, and replaced a number of Japanese aristocratic families with their own, & intermarried with others. The Japanese version is Korean based pirates briefly disrupted parts of coastal Japan & then were exterminated. Back when I lived in Japan I heard claims Japanese acheologists avoided opening historic sites that might prove one version or another of that era.
Perhaps some expert on Japanese history here can clarify all this for us.
Frankly, prior to 1945, I suspect this would be highly implausible, bordering on ASB. First, I suspect the degree of ethnocentrism and racism (both in Europe and Japan) was probably to high to allow such a union to be acceptable. Also, there is the matter than the Japanese emperor was divine (were his relatives and offspring "divinities-in-waiting"?). It's a cool idea, but I don't see it happening prior to the end of WW2.
I lived near Emperor Nintoku's tomb for 16 years and heard from numerous locals that the IHA blocked excavation on those exact grounds.
I could see a modern royal princess marrying a European royal - HIH Tsuguko being a prime candidate as suggested earlier.
I could see it happening with the latest generation of the Japanese Royal Family - especially given what lookers some of the Princesses are
Princess Akiko of Mikasa is only a few months older than Prince William and did her doctorate in art history at Oxford. It's not hard to imagine and alternate timeline where William & Kate's breakup is permanent and he meets Akiko at a social function of some kind. Yes, it would be unprecedented for a Japanese princess to marry a gaijin and she'd probally have to convert, but those can be overlooked since she'd be Queen of the UK one day. Actually I think the marriage would be much more popular in Japan than in the UK.