Prince Takehito was born in Kyoto as a scion of the Arisugawa-no-miya (有栖川宮家) house, one of the shinnōke branches of the Imperial Family of Japan, which were eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in the event that the main line should die out.

As he was born when the country was still under rule by the Tokugawa Bakufu, he was sent as a youth into the Buddhist priesthood, and assigned to serve at the monzeki temple of Myōhō-in in Kyoto.

In 1880, shortly after his wedding, Arisugawa was again sent to England, this time as a cadet at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

In 1891, Arisugawa was assigned to the escort of Russian Crown Prince Nikolai (later Tsar Nicholas II) during his tour of Japan.

However, while he was in the Prince's charge Nikolai was wounded in an assassination attempt, called the Otsu Scandal, which led to a considerable worsening of diplomatic relations between Japan and Russia.

[2][3] Promoted to full admiral on June 28, 1905, Meiji appointed the prince a member of the Order of the Golden Kite (3rd Class) for his service during the Russo-Japanese War.

He visited Europe again in 1905, when he and his wife represented the Emperor at the wedding of the German Crown Prince Wilhelm (1882–1951) to Duchess Cecile of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.