 At the time, birth was culturally believed to be a source of pollution, so the imperial prince was not born in the Palace.Instead, it was common for members of the Imperial Family to be born in a structure, often temporary, near the pregnant woman's father's house.The Prince Mutsuhito's mother, Nakayama Yoshiko, was a concubine ("gon no tenji—Japanese 権の典侍") to his father Emperor Kōmei, and she was the daughter of the acting major counselor, Nakayama Tadayasu.