Prince Pujie’s Honeymoon House

Though it is merely a sleepy town off the center of Chiba City today, Inage was once known as a major resort on the seaside, favored by a host of luminaries of pre-war Japan. Among them was Aisin-Gioro Pujie, the young brother of Puyi—the last emperor of China.

In 1937, Pujie married Hiro Saga, the daughter of the Marquis Saneto Saga and a distant relative of Emperor Shōwa. They moved to their honeymoon house in Inage, a historic monumental residence built in 1913. Today, it faces a narrow alley off the main road but back in those days, the beaches of Inage were closer to the house, soothing waves coming and going as the newly married couple spent their happy days.

They only lived here for half a year, but Pujie always remembered their days in Inage fondly, returning once in 1990 following the passing of his wife and leaving a short poem. A well-known calligrapher, several of Pujie’s works are also displayed in the house alongside a small collection of Qing art and a few photographs of Pujie and Hiro during their honeymoon days.