was a Japanese lady-in-waiting in the court of the Imperial House of Japan. She was a favourite concubine of Emperor KÃ Âmei and the mother of Emperor Meiji.
Nakayama Yoshiko was the daughter of Lord Nakayama Tadayasu, Minister of the Left (Sadaijin) and a member of the Fujiwara clan. Her mother was Matsura Aiko (1818âÂÂ1906), the 11th daughter of the daimyà  of the Hirado domain, Matsura Seizan.
She was born in Kyoto and entered service of the court at the age of 16. She became a concubine of Kà Âmei, who was also her third cousin once removed, and on 3 November 1852, gave birth to her only offspring Mutsuhito, later known as Emperor Meiji, at her fatherâÂÂs residence outside of the Kyoto Imperial Palace. She returned with her son to the Palace five years later. Her son was the only child born to Emperor Kà Âmei surviving to adulthood.
After the Meiji Restoration, she relocated to the new capital to Tokyo City in 1870 at the behest of her son the Emperor. She is buried in Toshimagaoka cemetery in Bunkyà Â, Tokyo.