Empress Shōken

Empress Dowager Shōken
昭憲皇太后
The Empress c. 1889
Empress consort of Japan
Tenure11 January 1869 –
30 July 1912
Enthronement11 January 1869
Empress dowager of Japan
Tenure30 July 1912 –
9 April 1914
BornMasako Ichijō (一条勝子)
(1849-05-09)9 May 1849
Heian-kyō, Japan
Died9 April 1914(1914-04-09) (aged 64)
Numazu, Japan
Burial
Fushimi Momoyama no Higashi no Misasagi, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan
Spouse
(m. 1869; died 1912)
Posthumous name
Empress Dowager Shōken (昭憲皇太后)
HouseImperial House of Japan
FatherTadayoshi Ichijō
MotherTamiko Niihata

Masako Ichijō (一条勝子, Ichijō Masako; 9 May 1849 – 9 April 1914), who adopted the imperial given name Haruko (美子) in 1867 and was posthumously honoured as Empress Dowager Shōken (昭憲皇太后, Shōken Kōtaigō), was the wife of Emperor Meiji of Japan. She was one of the founders of the Japanese Red Cross Society, whose charity work was known throughout the First Sino-Japanese War.