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Yoshihito (Japanese: 嘉仁, 31 August 1879 – 25 December 1926), posthumously honored as Emperor Taishō (大正天皇, Taishō-tennō), was the 123rd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 1912 until his death in 1926. The era he presided over is known as the Taishō era.
Born to Emperor Meiji and his concubine Yanagiwara Naruko, Yoshihito was proclaimed crown prince in 1888, his two older siblings having died in infancy. In 1900, he married Kujō Sadako, a member of the Kujō family of the Fujiwara clan. The couple had four children: Hirohito, Yasuhito, Nobuhito and Takahito. Upon the death of his father in 1912, Yoshihito ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne. Suffering from neurological issues for the better part of his life, he played only a limited role in politics and from 1919 on undertook no official duties. His reign was characterized by a liberal and democratic shift in political power known as Taishō Democracy. It also saw Japan's entrance in the First World War and the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923.
Yoshihito's declining health led to the appointment of Crown Prince Hirohito as prince regent in 1921. He spent the rest of his life as a recluse. In 1926, Yoshihito died of a heart attack at the age of 47 following a bout of pneumonia. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Hirohito, as Emperor of Japan.