was a scion of the Japanese imperial family and was a career naval officer who served as chief of staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1932 to 1941. Early life Prince Hiroyasu was born in Tokyo as Prince Narukata, the eldest son of Prince Fushimi Sadanaru (1858–1923) by one of his concubines. He was the twenty-third head of the Fushimi-no-miya, one of the four shinnōke cadet branches of the imperial family entitled to succeed to the throne in default of a direct heir. Prince Fushimi was a second cousin to both Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) and Empress Kōjun, and nephew of Prince Kan'in Kotohito He succeeded to title Kachō-no-miya on April 23, 1883, upon which he changed his name from "Narukata" to "Hiroyasu," but returned to the house of Fushimi-no-miya on January 16, 1904. Marriage & family On January 9, 1896, Prince Hiroyasu married Tokugawa Tsuneko (1882–1939), the ninth daughter of Prince Tokugawa Yoshinobu, Japan's last shōgun, with whom he had six children: ; Married Marquis Asano Nagatake ; Became Prince Kachō Hirotada ; Became Marquis Kachō Hironobu: took peerage title of Marquis and succeeded to head of Kachō-no-miya household ; Married Count Kiyosu Yukiyasu. ; married Prince Kuni Asaakira. ; Became Count Fushimi Hirohide: took peerage title of Count, served in IJN, KIA. Military career Prince Hiroyasu entered the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy on 5 April 1886, but resigned in September 1889 and moved to Germany. He enrolled in the Naval Academy of the Kaiserliche Marine on 8 April 1892. Promoted to midshipman (Fähnrich zur See) on March 30, 1893 and to ensign (Oberfähnrich zur See) on April 20, 1894, he graduated from the academy on 15 August 1895 and returned to service in the IJN. He spoke fluent German. He then served aboard the cruisers Itsukushima and Matsushima. On December 1, 1897, he was promoted to sub-lieutenant and assigned to the battleship Fuji, receiving a promotion to lieutenant on December 27. Promoted to lieutenant-commander on July 29, 1903, he served in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), and sustained wounds aboard the battleship Mikasa in the Battle of the Yellow Sea (August 1904). He later served as executive officer on the cruiser Niitaka, battleship Okinoshima, and cruisers Naniwa and Nisshin. He was awarded the Order of the Golden Kite, 4th class, for his services in the Russo-Japanese War, and was promoted to commander on September 28, 1906. He studied in