 Prince Fushimi was a close advisor to then-Crown Prince Yoshihito (later Emperor Taishō).After the death of Emperor Meiji in 1911, he served as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan from 1912 to 1915, thus becoming the only imperial prince to have served in that office.He was promoted to the largely ceremonial rank of field marshal in 1915, and awarded the Grand Collar of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum in 1916.