Nagako

Nagako married Hirohito in 1924 and became empress upon his accession to the throne in 1925. Nagako was the mother of Japan's current emperor Akihito. She performed her duties as empress in a traditional way.

After Hirohito's death in 1989 Nagako was known as the Dowager Empress. At that time she was in failing health herself. At the time of her death at the age of 97 in 2000 she had been an empress for 75 years.