Princess Shigeko was born at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo while her father was still Prince Regent for her grandfather the Taishō Emperor. Her childhood appellation was Teru-no-miya. As was the practice of the time, she was not raised by her biological parents after the age of three, but by a succession of court ladies at a separate palace built for her and her younger sisters in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo from 1930. Emperor Shōwa opposed the move, but could not defy court tradition. She entered the girls elementary department of the Gakushūin Peer's School in 1932 and completed the secondary department in 1942, learning cooking and literature. On 9 May 1939, Princess Shigeko rode on the Chōshi Electric Railway Line in Chiba Prefecture from to Tōdaimae and back as part of a Gakushūin school outing. In 1941, she was formally engaged to the eldest son and heir of Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, Prince Morihiro Higashikuni. The bride and groom were double first cousins once removed, through both the main imperial line, in descent from Emperor Meiji, and through collateral imperial lines, or ōke, that were cadet branches of the Fushimi-no-miyacadet branch of the imperial house. The couple were officially wed on 10 October 1943, upon which her official appellation became Shigeko, Princess Morihiro of Higashikuni. As the wedding occurred in the middle of World War II, ceremonies and expenses were kept to a minimum, and she wore a junihitoekimono belonging to her mother, Empress Kōjun, rather than having special clothing created for the occasion. In 1947, the Higashikunis were reduced to commoner status with the abolition of titles of nobility by the American occupation forces. With rampant post-war inflation, high taxation, and various failed business ventures by her husband, the Higashikuni family was reduced to poverty. In January 1958, she accepted an offer by the Japanese national television network, NHK, to appear before a live audience and explain the New Year's poetry card reading contest and other royal ceremonies. She fell ill in 1960, complaining of stomach pains, and was diagnosed with cancer. Hospitalized at the Imperial Household Agency Hospital in Tokyo, she died on 23 July 1961. Her grave is at the Toshimagaoka imperial cemetery in Bunkyo, Tokyo.
Family
Prince and Princess Higashikuni had five children, the last three of whom were born after they were reduced in status to commoners:
