Yi Bangja (Korean: 이방자; 4 November 1901 – 30 April 1989) was the wife of Crown Prince Euimin, the last Crown Prince of the Korean Empire. She was born as Princess Masako of Nashimoto (方子女王, Masako Joō), a member of the Japanese Imperial Family.
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Birth
Born Princess Masako of Nashimoto (Japanese: 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 the 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, the daughter of Prince Saneteru Ichijō who was later eventually to marry Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi. 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 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 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 (Japanese: 李王世子妃). In addition, the title she received from birth, Princess Masako, still retained after she married. Despite an unfavorable fertility diagnosis prior to her marriage, she gave birth to a son, Yi Jin, on 18 August 1921. However, Prince Jin died under suspicious circumstances when she visited Korea with her husband on 11 May 1922.