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{{Short description|Japanese-Korean princess (1901–1989)}}
{{family name hatnote|Yi||lang=Korean}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Yi Bangja
| title = [[Crown Princess]] of [[Korean Empire|Korea]]
| native_lang1_name1 = 이방자
| image        = Yi Bangja.jpg
| caption = Then-Princess Masako wearing the [[Order of the Precious Crown]], between 1919/1926
| birth_name   = Princess Masako of Nashimoto
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1901|11|4|df=yes}}
| birth_place  = [[Tokyo]], [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1989|4|30|1901|11|4|df=yes}}
| death_place  = Nakseon Hall, [[Changdeokgung|Changdeok Palace]], [[Seoul]], [[South Korea]]
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Yi Un|Crown Prince Euimin]]<br/>|1920|1970|reason=d.}}
| issue        =Yi Jin<br>[[Yi Gu]]
| father       = [[Nashimoto Morimasa|Morimasa, Prince Nashimoto]]
| mother       = 
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| title = Bangja, Crown Princess Euimin of Korea
| kanji = 方子女王 
| romaji = Masako Joō
| hangul = 이방자 
| hanja = 李方子 
| rr = I Bangja
| mr = I Pangja
| ibox-order = ja, ko1}}
[[Image:Prince and Princess Euimin.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Wedding photo]]
'''Yi Bangja, Crown Princess of Korea''' ({{Korean|hangul=이방자}}; 4 November 1901 &ndash; 30 April 1989) was the wife of [[Yi Un|Crown Prince Euimin]], the last Crown Prince of the [[Korean Empire]]. She was born as {{nihongo|Princess Masako of [[Nashimoto-no-miya|Nashimoto]]|方子女王|Masako Joō}},<ref>{{in lang|ko}} [http://media.daum.net/entertain/others/view.html?cateid=100030&newsid=20061030162108544&p=etn 김희애 조선 마지막 황태자비 이방자 역 캐스팅]</ref> a member of the [[Japanese Imperial Family]].

==Birth==
Born '''Princess Masako of Nashimoto''' ({{langx|ja|方子女王}}), she was the first daughter of Japanese imperial family member [[Prince Nashimoto Morimasa]], the seventh son of [[Prince Kuni Asahiko]] and his wife, Princess Itsuko, a daughter of [[Marquis]] Naohiro Nabeshima. She was a first cousin of [[Empress Kōjun]] of Japan. On maternal side, she was also a first cousin of [[Princess Setsuko]].

==Marriage==
Princess Masako was a leading candidate to wed the [[crown prince]] of Japan, the future [[Emperor Hirohito]]. Other candidates included Princess Nagako of Kuni (who became the future [[Empress Kōjun]]), and Tokiko Ichijō, a daughter of Prince Ichijō Saneteru. The possibility of infertility and the feeble political influence of her family were among the reasons she was removed from the list of candidates. However, Princess Masako was selected instead to wed [[Yi Un|Crown Prince Euimin]] of Korea who had been held by Japanese government under the pretense of studying abroad in 1917. The wedding was held on 28 April 1920, at the [[Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka|Korean royal residence in Tokyo]]. Princess Masako was still a student at the Girls' Department of the [[Gakushūin]] Peers' School at the time; her new title became ''[[Her Royal Highness]] Crown Princess of King Yi'' ({{langx|ja|李王世子妃}}). In addition, the title she received from birth, Princess Masako, still retained after she married.<ref name=jsg>{{cite web |title=왕공족보(王公族譜) |url=http://jsg.aks.ac.kr/dir/view?catePath=&dataId=JSG_K2-4732 |website=디지털 장서각}}</ref> Despite an unfavorable fertility diagnosis prior to her marriage, she gave birth to a son, Prince Jin, on 18 August 1921. However, Prince Jin died under suspicious circumstances when she visited Korea with her husband on 11 May 1922.

On 24 April 1926, Princess Masako received the formal title ''Her Royal Highness Princess Masako, Queen Yi'' ({{langx|ja|李王妃方子女王}}) when the [[Emperor Sunjong]], the elder brother of Crown Prince Euimin, died.<ref name=jsg /> Under the terms of the [[Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty]], the Korean royal title was demoted from that of "Emperor" to "King" and Crown Prince Euimin was never formally crowned as the monarch of Korea; therefore, Princess Masako would later be addressed as "Bangja, Crown Princess Euimin" in Korea.<ref>{{cite web |title=신위봉안도(神位奉安圖) |url=http://www.jongmyo.net/36 |website=종묘대제 |accessdate=2021-01-08}}</ref> On 29 December 1931, she gave birth to a second son, [[Yi Ku]].

==Life as last Crown Princess of Korea==
After the end of [[World War II]], all former royal and peerage titles were abolished by the American occupation authorities, after which, Princess Masako took the Korean name '''Yi Bangja'''. [[Republic of Korea]] President [[Rhee Syng-man]]'s fear of Crown Prince Euimin's popularity prevented the family's homecoming, and they lived in destitution as [[Zainichi Korean|Korean residents in Japan]]. In November 1963, Yi Bangja and her family came back to Korea at the invitation of President [[Park Chung Hee]] and were allowed to live in [[Changdeokgung|Changdeok Palace]] in downtown [[Seoul]].<ref>Naver dictionary [https://archive.today/20120718160144/http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?docid=126171]</ref> However, by this time, Crown Prince Euimin was already unconscious from [[cerebral thrombosis]] and was rushed to Seoul Sungmo Hospital where he remained bedridden for the rest of his life.

Thereafter, Yi Bangja devoted herself to the education of [[mentally disabled|mentally]] and [[Disability|physically disabled]] people. She successively became the chairman of various committees including the ''Commemorative Committee of Crown Prince Euimin'', and the ''Myeonghwi-won'', an asylum for deaf-and-dumb persons or patients suffering from [[infantile paralysis]] and she founded the ''Jahye School'' and the ''Myeonghye School'', which helps disabled people become socially adapted. She was adored as the "mother of the handicapped in Korea" and despite lingering [[anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea]] she was a widely respected Japanese woman in Korea.<ref>[http://www.urisuwon.com/sub_read.html?uid=3041&section=section11& Interview with principal of Jahye school in South Korea (우리 모두는 남이 아닌 한 이웃)]</ref><ref>According to testimony of her student who was once taken care of by Princess Yi and volunteer workers."이방자 여사는 장애인을 이끌어준 등불" (Princess Yi, the Lighthouse for the physically challenged), [http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=102&oid=001&aid=0001783103 Yonhap News]
</ref>

Some members of the [[Nashimoto-no-miya|Nashimoto family]], her relatives, visited Seoul in October 2008 to pay their respects. The Nashimotos have continued supporting her charity foundations for helping Korean physically challenged people even after the Princess died in 1989.<ref>{{in lang|ko}} [http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2008100290821&type=&nid=&sid=0106&page=1 영친왕비 이방자 여사 종친 방한]</ref>

==Death==
Yi Bangja died on 30 April 1989, aged 87, at the Nakseon Hall, [[Changdeokgung|Changdeok Palace]] from [[cancer]]. Her funeral was held as a semi-[[state funeral]] which [[Prince Mikasa]] and [[Princess Mikasa]] of Japan attended and she was buried beside her husband, [[Yi Un|Crown Prince Euimin]], at the Hongyureung, [[Namyangju]] near Seoul.

==Children==
# Prince '''Yi Jin''' ({{Ko-hhrm|hanja=李晋|hangul=이진|rr=I Jin|labels=no}}; 18 August 1921 &ndash; 11 May 1922). He was poisoned during a visit to Korea with his parents. His funeral was held on 17 May 1922 and he was buried in Korea.
# Prince''' [[Yi Ku]]''' ({{Ko-hhrm|hanja=李玖|hangul=이구|rr=I Gu|labels=no}}; 29 December 1931 &ndash; 16 July 2005). Prince Gu became the 29th Head of the [[House of Yi]] upon the death of his father.

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
| 1 = 1. '''Princess Masako of Nashimoto'''
| 2 = 2. [[Prince Nashimoto Morimasa|Morimasa, Prince Nashimoto]]
| 3 = 3. Lady Nabeshima Itsuko
| 4 = 4. [[Prince Kuni Asahiko|Asahiko, Prince Kuni]]
| 5 = 5. Harada Mitsue, concubine
| 6 = 6. [[Nabeshima Naohiro (Saga)|Marquis Nabeshima Naohiro]]
| 7 = 7. Lady Hirohashi Nagako
| 8 = 8. [[Prince Fushimi Kuniye|Kuniye, Prince Fushimi]]
| 9 = 9. Torikoji Nobuko, concubine
|10 =
|11 = 
|12 = 12. [[Nabeshima Naomasa|Nabeshima Naomasa, 10th Daimyō of Saga]]
|13 =
|14 = 14. ''[[Dainagon]]'' Count Hirohashi Taneho
|15 =
|16 = 16. Sadayoshi, Prince Fushimi
|17 = 
|18 =
|19 = 
|20 = 
|21 = 
|22 = 
|23 = 
|24 = 24. Nabeshima Narinao, 9th Daimyō of Saga
|25 = 25. daughter of [[Tottori Domain#Simplified family tree (Ikeda Lords of Tottori)|Ikeda Harumichi, 6th Daimyō of Tottori]]
|26 =
|27 =
|28 = 28. ''Jundaijin'' Hirohashi Mitsunari
|29 = 29. daughter of Asukai Masayuki
}}

==Popular culture==
Yi Bangja was portrayed by [[Naho Toda]] in the 2016 film ''[[The Last Princess (film)|The Last Princess]]''.

==See also==
*[[Rulers of Korea]]
*[[Korea under Japanese rule]]

==References==
<references/>

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite book |last=Yi |first=Bangja |title=The World is One: Princess Yi Bangja's Autobiography. |date=1974 |publisher=Taewon Publishing Company }}
{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[Nashimoto-no-miya]]|4 November |1899| 30 April |1989| }}
{{S-pre}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Empress Sunjeonghyo]]}}
{{S-tul|title=[[Empress consort]] of [[Korean Empire|Korea]]|years= 24 April 1926 – 1 May 1970|reason=[[Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty|Empire abolished by Japanese annexation 1910]]}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Julia Mullock]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{King Yi of Korea}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yi, Bangja}}
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:Japanese princesses]]
[[Category:Nashimoto-no-miya]]
[[Category:House of Yi]]
[[Category:Japan–Korea relations]]
[[Category:South Korean people of Japanese descent]]
[[Category:Grand Cordons of the Order of the Precious Crown]]
[[Category:Nobility from Tokyo]]
[[Category:Crown princesses]]