Japan 12
JAPANESE IMPERIAL
GENEALOGY
(The Late Heian Period)
1068 - 1072 Go-Sanjō Tennō, Seventy-First Emperor of Japan. Born Takahito Ō in 1034, he was Crown Prince from 1045 and succeeded his brother in 1068. The eras of his reign were: Jiryaku (1068-1069) and Enkyū (1069-1072). He was a waka poet. He was nominally under the control of his Regent Fujiwara no Norimichi. He was the first Emperor 218 years whose mother was not a member of the Fujiwara Clan, which meant that he and his successors were able to act much more independently of the Fujiwara than his predeccessors, authoring his own edicts instead of just rubberstamping Fujiwara edicts. At first this seemed a return to normalcy, but the gulf would eventually be filled by the warrior clans. He married (first) Moshi, born Kanin no Shigeko, daughter of Kanin no Kinnari (see KANIN), she had been adopted by Fujiwara no Yoshinobu, and it was his intrigues which brought Go-Sanjō to the throne, to the great detriment of the Fujiwara family. He married (second) Minamoto no Makoto, born 1049, died 1134. He abdicated in 1072 to become a Buddhist Priest, taking the name Kongō-Gyō, but instead of retreating from the world, he became a power behind the throne as the first of the Cloistered Emperors. At least, this was probably his intent; as he died in 1073 before he could put this plan into action, but the precedent had been set. He had issue, including:
1) Shirakawa Tennō (son of Moshi), Seventy-First Emperor of Japan - see below.
4) Sanehito Shinnō (son of Makoto). He was Crown Prince (1072-1085), following his father's will. He died in 1085.
5) Sukehito Shinnō (son of Makoto). According to his father's will he was to succeed his brother Sanehito as Crown Prince, but Shirakawa chose to be succeeded by his son instead. He was marginalised thereafter. In 1113 his supporters attempted to assassinate Emperor Toba and place him on the throne, this was the Senjumaru incident. This plot was prevented, Sukehito was placed under house arrest, released and became a Buddhist Priest in 1119. He died aged 37, but left issue, including:
a) Minamoto no Arihito, nicknamed Hanazono. Born 1103, he descended to commoner status, becoming a member of the Minamoto (Go-Sanjō Genji) Clan. He was Major Captain of the Inner Palace Guards of the Right, Major Captain of the Inner Palace Guards of the Left, Minister of the Centre (1122-1131), Minister of the Right (1131-1136) and Minister of the Left (1136-1147). He entered the Buddhist priesthood in 1147 and died later that year.
1072 - 1086 Shirakawa Tennō (son of Moshi), Seventy-First Emperor of Japan. Born Sadahito Ō in 1053, he was Crown Prince from 1069 and succeeded his father in 1072. The eras of his reign were: Enkyū (1072-1074), Shōhō (1074-1077), Shōryaku (1077-1081), Eihō (1081-1084) and Ōtoku (1084-1086). He was initially under the control of the Cloistered Go-Sanjo, and then of the Regents Fujiwara no Norimichi and Fujiwara no Morozane. He married in 1070, Fujiwara no Kenshi, born Minamoto no Kenshi in 1057, daughter of Minamoto no Akifusa, adopted as a child by Fujiwara no Morozane, Shirakawa's favourite wife and his Secondary Empress (1072-1084), she died in 1084 (see above). His reign saw the establishment of measures of volume and the establishment of a central records office in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the illegal aggregation of land to private landlords, which had become a serious problem. He abdicated in 1086 to become a Cloistered Emperor, becoming a Buddhist Priest in 1096. During his cloistered reign he was defacto ruler of Japan and founded Hosshō-ji in Kyoto as a clan temple for the Imperial family.He died in 1129, having ruled Japan for nearly 60 years. He had issue, including:
1) A son (son of Kenshi), born in 1076, after prayers by Master Teacher Raigō, in exchange for the construction of an ordination hall at Mii-dera. When Shirakawa refused this (it would have caused war between Mii-dera and the monks of Mt Hiei), Raigō cursed the son to die when he did and then starved himself to death. He died in 1079.
2) Horikawa Tennō (son of Kenshi) Seventy-Second Emperor of Japan - see below.
?) Gyōkei. Born 1105, he bacame an esoteric Buddhist Priest. He was guardian-priest for his grand-nephew, Dokei and Intendent of Shitennō-ji, in Osaka, but was stripped of the position under Emperor Nijo. He supervised construction of the Sanjūsangen-dō Hall for the Thousand-Armed Kannon in 1164. He died in 1165.
1) Yūhōmon In. She was a favourite of her father, but the vengeful ghost of Raigō cursed her. The monks of Mt Hiei attempted an exorcism, and she recovered, but died shortly thereafter in 1096, leading her father to become a Buddhist Priest.
1086 - 1107 Horikawa Tennō, Seventy-Second Emperor of Japan. Born Yoshihito Shinnō in 1079 he was made Crown Prince in 1086 and succeeded his father later the same day. The eras of his reign were: Ōtoku (1086-1087), Kanji (1087-1094) Kahō (1094-1096) Eichō (1096-1097), Shōtoku (1097-1099), Kōwa (1099-1104), Chōji (1104-1106) and Kashō (1106-1107). He was entirely under the control of the Cloistered Emperor Shirakawa. In his reign, the Tendai Monks of Mt Hiei marched on the capital to protest acts of the Fujiwara, and the Sonshō-ji was founded in Kyoto in 1102. He married Kanin no Shishi, daughter of Kanin no Sanesue, she died in 1103 (see KANIN) He died in 1107, but had issue:
1) Toba Tennō (son of Shishi), Seventy-Third Emperor of Japan - see below.
1107 - 1123 Toba Tennō, Seventy-Third Emperor of Japan. Born Munehito Shinnō in 1103 he was Crown Prince from birth and succeeded his father in 1107. The eras of his reign were: Kashō (1107-1108), Tenin (1108-1110) Tenei (1110-1113), Eikyū (1113-1118), Genei (1118-1120) and Hōan (1120-1123). He was entirely under the control of the Cloistered Emperor Shirakawa. In his reign Saishō-ji was founded in Kyoto in 1117. He married (first) Taikenmon In, also called Shōshi Naishinnō, born 1101 to Fujiwara no Kinzane and adopted by Shirakawa Tenno, she was Empress and founded the Enshō-ji in Kyoto in 1128 and died in 1145 (see FUJIWARA). He married (second) Bifukumon In, born Fujiwara no Tokushi in 1117, daughter of Fujiwara no Nagazane, she died in 1160 (see FUJIWARA). He married (third) in 1133, Kaya no In, born Fujiwara no Yasuko, daughter of Fujiwara no Tadazane, she was granted the title of Empress in 1134 and died in 1155 (see KUJO). The Cloistered Emperor Shirakawa forced him to abdicate in 1123, just as he was reaching adulthood. He became Cloistered Emperor himself in 1129 and placed a succession of his young children on the throne in order to continue in the role. This deeply frustrated his eldest son, Sutoku's own plans to become Cloistered Emperor (for which he needed one of his own sons on the throne). He died in 1156; the rebellions that brought the warrior clans to power and marked the end of civilian rule in Japan began shortly thereafter. He had issue:
1) Sutoku Tennō (son of Taikenmon), Seventy-Fourth Emperor of Japan - see below.
2) Nae Miya (son of Taikenmon). He died young.
3) Me Miya (son of Taikenmon). He died young.
4) Go-Shirakawa Tennō (son of Taikenmon), Seventy-Sixth Emperor of Japan - see below.
5) Kakushō Hosshinnō (son of Taikenmon). Born 1129, he became a Buddhist Priest. He trained future-Emperor Nijo in Buddhism and retained a great deal of influence over him when he became Emperor. He became Intendent of Shitennō-ji in Osaka. He died in 1169.
6) Dōkei Hosshinnō. He became a Buddhist Priest, training under his uncle Gyokei.
7) Kakukai Hosshinnō. Born 1134, he became an esoteric Buddhist Priest and was Tendai Abbot, then the highest position in Japanese Buddhism, from 1177 until Taira no Kiyomori forced his resignation in 1179. He died in 1181.
8) Konoe Tennō (son of Bifukumon), Seventy-Fifth Emperor of Japan - see below.
1) Jōsaimon In Naishinnō (daughter of Taikenmon). Born 1126, she was raised to the rank of Empress by the Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa and involved herself in his government. She was a diligent Buddhist, arousing the envy of her brother, Go-Shirakawa. She died in 1189.
2) Hachijō In Naishinnō (daughter of Bifukumon). Born before 1139, Cloistered Emperor Toba briefly considered placing her on the throne after her brother's death in 1155.
1123 - 1141 Sutoku Tennō, Seventy-Fourth Emperor of Japan. Born Akihito Shinnō in 1119, he was placed on the throne as a child in 1123 by his great-grandfather, Cloistered Emperor Shirakawa, who anticipated he would be a more pliant puppet. The eras of his reign were Hōan (1123-1124), Tenji (1124-1126), Daiji (1126-1131), Tenshō (1131-1132), Chōshō (1132-1135), Hōen (1135-1141) and Eiji (1141). In his reign the Jōshō-ji was founded in Kyoto and the Tendai monks of Mt Hiei burnt down Mii-dera, headquartres of a rival group of Tendai monks. Sutoku was entirely under the control of Cloistered Emperor Shirakawa until 1129, and then under Cloistered Emperor Toba. He married (first) in 1129, Kōkamon In, born Fujiwara no Seishi in 1121, daughter of Fujiwara no Tadamichi (see KUJŌ), she died in 1181. He married (second) Karasuma, his favourite consort. Toba forced him to abdicate in favour of his infant brother in 1141, Sutoku tried to become Cloistered Emperor himself, even though Toba had no intention of relinquishing the office. Following the death of Toba, he hoped to place one of his sons on the throne (instead of his adult brother, over whom he had no influence) and be Cloistered Emperor. To achieve this, he and Fujiwara no Yorinaga gathered members of the warrior clans to attacked Kyoto, but the Imperial forces struck first, and burnt down Sutoku's Palace. This was the Hōgen Rebellion, the first of a series of wars involving the warrior clans which would ultimately lead to the establishment of the Shogunate and the end of Imperial rule. He was exiled to Sanuki (Northeast Shikoku), where he died in 1164. In 1177 he was posthumously raised to the title of Cloistered Emperor, in order to placate his vengeful soul. He had issue, including:
1) Shigehito Shinnō (son of Kōkamon). He was considered by Cloistered Emperor Toba as a successor to Konoe in 1155, but was passed over. He would, presumably, have been placed on the throne had the Hōgen Rebellion been successful.
1141 - 1155 Konoe Tennō, Seventy-Fifth Emperor of Japan. Born Narihito Shinnō in 1139, he was Crown Prince from birth and was placed on the throne in 1141 (aged two). The eras of his reign were Eiji (1141-1142), Kōji (1142-1144), Tenyō (1144-1145), Kyūan (1145-1151), Ninbyō (1151-1154) and Kyūju (1154-1155). In his reign the Enshō-ji, last of the Six Superiority Temples, was founded in Kyoto. The Gukanshō claims that he was a bad Emperor because he failed to attend the magnificent banquets put on by his Regent; given that he was a young child for most of his reign this seems entirely unfair. Sutoku had adopted him as a son, hoping to become Cloistered Emperor as his adoptive father, but the Cloistered Emperor Toba did not allow this, retaining complete control himself. A major war between Minamoto and Abe warrior clans in Kanto began late in his reign (1151-1163). He died in 1155, aged 16.