Japan 4

 JAPANESE IMPERIAL

GENEALOGY

(The Kofun Kings of Yamato)

(From this point on, the Kojiki and Nihonshoki cease to relate blatantly nonsensical myth, which might indicate that they begin to relate history. This is the time of first contact with China - and the introduction of writing. It is possible, therefore that records extended back this far)

Richū Ōe no Izahowake no Mikoto, Seventeenth Emperor of Japan and Great King of Yamato. He ruled from a Palace in Naniwa, but when his younger brother, Sumi no E, rebelled and set it on fire, he fled to the great Shrine of Iso no Kami in Tenri, Nara. After the rebellion was defeated he moved to the Palace of Wakasakura in Ihare. He married Kurohime no Mikoto, also called Iitoyohime no Mikoto, Empress, a descendant of Kōgen, Eighth Emperor of Japan, through the Prime Minister Takeuchi (see above), she was killed by a divine curse and buried at Hasa. He married (second) Hatabihime no Mikoto, Empress after the death of his first wife. He married (third) Futohime no Iratsume and (fourth) her sister Takatsuru no Iratsume, daughters of the Prince Funashiwake. He died at the Palace of Wakasakura, aged 64 (Kojiki) or 70 (Nihonshiki) and was buried at Mozu no Mimihara. He was adopted ancestor of the Mibu or Nibu Clan and had issue:

• 1) Iwazaka no Ichinobe no Oshiha no Miko (son of Kurohime). He married Haehime, descendant of the famous Prime Minister Takeuchi (see above). He was slain, for no apparent reason, by the Emperor Yūryaku, who sliced his body up and fed him to a horse. He had issue:

  • a) Ninken Ōke Ōshi no Mikoto, Twenty-Fourth Emperor of Japan - see below.

  • b) Kenzō Oke no Ihasuwake no Mikoto, Twenty-Third Emperor of Japan - see below.

  • c) Tachibana no Miko.

  • a) Inatsuhime. 

  • b) Oshinomi no Iitoyo no Aohime. She declared herself Emperor after the death of Emperor Seinei, when her brothers refused to take the dignity. She ruled from the Palace of Tsunazachi in Oshinomi. She ruled for less than a year before she died and was buried in Haniguchi Kofun in Katsuragi.

• 2) Mima no Miko (son of Kurohime)

• 1) Aomi no Iratsume, also called Ichitoyo no Iratsume and Oshinumi no Iratsume (daughter of Kurohime).

  • 2) Nakashihime no Iratsume (daughter of Hatabihime).   

Hanzei Tajihi no Mizuhawake no Mikoto, Eighteenth Emperor of Japan and Great King of Yamato. Born at the Palace of Ahaji. In the reign of his elder brother he ended the rebellion of Sumi no E by tricking his man-at-arms into killing the rebel. He later succeeded his brother, ruling from the Palace of Shibakaki in Tajihi. He married (first) Tsunu no Iratsume, daughter of Wani no Kogoto, Omi of Wani. He married (second) Otohime, sister of his first wife. He died at Tajihi aged 60 and was buried at Mozu no Mimhara. He was adopted ancestor of the Tajihi Clan and had issue:

• 1) Takara no Miko (son of Otohime)

• 1) Kai no Iratsume (daughter of Tsunu)

• 2) Tsubura no Iratsume (daughter of Tsunu)

• 3) Takabe no Iratsume (daughter of Otohime)

Ingyō Oasazuma no Wakugo no Sukune no Mikoto, Nineteenth Emperor of Japan and Great King of Yamato. He at first declined the throne, because of a long term illness, but he was cured by a physician from Silla in Korea. He ruled from the Palace of Tō tsu Asuka. During his reign he corrected the surnames of his subjects, which had been claimed by people not entitled to them. He married (first) Osaka no Ōnakatsuhime no Mikoto, Empress, a descendant of Emperor Ōjin, (see above), she dwelt at Fujiwara Palace and was adopted ancestor of the Osaka Clan. He married (second) Otohime, also called Sotohori no Iratsume, sister of his first wife (see above). He died at the age of 78 and was buried at Nagae, near Ega in Kofuchi. He had issue:

• • 1) Kinashi no Karu no Miko (son of Ōnakatsuhime). He was to succeed his father, but before he acceded, he fell in love with his sister Karu. As a result, the people abandoned him and his brother, Ankō, became Emperor instead. He was exiled to the hot springs of Iyo (probably Matsuyama, Ehime) where he committed suicide with his beloved.

  • 2) Sakai no Kurohiko no Miko (son of Ōnakatsuhime). He was uninterested in avenging the murder of his brother, Emperor Ankō, for which he was slain by Emperor Yūryaku.

  • 3) Ankō Anaho no Mikoto, Twentieth Emperor of Japan (son of Ōnakatsuhime) - see below.

  • 4) Yatsuri no Shirobiko no Miko (son of Ōnakatsuhime). He was uninterested in avenging the murder of his brother, Emperor Ankō, for which he was executed by Emperor Yūryaku.

  • 5) Yūryaku Ōhatsuse no Mikoto, Twenty-First Emperor of Japan (son of Ōnakatsuhime) - see below.

  • 1) Nagata no Ōiratsume (son of Ōnakatsuhime). She married (first) her uncle, Hatabi no Ōiratsuko, son of Emperor Nintoku and had issue (see above). She married (second) her brother Ankō, Twentieth Emperor of Japan, who had murdered her first husband and with whom she had no issue.

  • 2) Karu no Ōiratsume, also called Sotōshi no Iratsume, on account of her warm glow (son of Ōnakatsuhime). She was the lover of her elder brother the cronw prince, Karu, a relationship so scandalous that it cost him the throne. She committed suicide with him at the hot springs of Iyo. 

  • 3) Tajima no Tachibana no Ōiratsume (son of Ōnakatsuhime).

  • 4) Sakami no Iratsume (son of Ōnakatsuhime).

Ankō Anaho no Mikoto, Twentieth Emperor of Japan and Great King of Yamato. He was not crown prince, but seized the throne after his elder brother entered into a scandalous relationship with his own sister. He ruled from the Palace of Anaho at the great Shrine of Iso no Kami (in Tenri, Nara). He then married his other sister Nagata no Ōiratsume, after having her first husband (his own uncle) executed unjustly. For this he was killed at the age of 56 by his seven year old step-son Mayowa. He was buried in Fushimi Kofun at Sugahara. He had no issue

Yūryaku Ōhatsuse no Waketake no Mikoto, Twenty-First Emperor of Japan and Great King of Yamato. He avenged his predeccessor's murder; killing Mayowa. He killed his elder brothers for refused to aid him in this vengeance and brutally murdered a cousin for no apparent reason whatsoever, which conveniently left him without rivals for the Throne. He ruled from the Palace of Asakura at Hatsuse, but spent much of his reign progressing from one location to another, hunting, feasting, marrying girls and threatening to kill people. During his reign migrants first arrived from China. He married (first) Wakekusakabe no Miko, Empress, grandaughter of Emperor Nintoku (see above). He married (second) Katsuragi no Karahime, daughter of Katsuragi no Tsubura no Omi, the Prime Minister who had sheltered Mayowa from the Emperor and been killed for it. He married (third) Kibi no Wakahime, daughter of Kibi no Kamutsumichi no Omi, she supported her second son's rebellion and died with him. He married (fourth) Oguna no Kimi. He married (fifth) a lady from Eshinu. He died at the age of 124 and was buried at Takawashi in Tajihi, Kafuchi. He had issue:

• 1) Iwashiro no Miko (son of Wakahime). He died with Hoshikawa.

• 2) Hoshikawa no Wakamiya no Miko (son of Wakahime). He seized his brother's treasury and rebelled against him and he was burnt to death.

• 3) Seinei Shiraka no Oyamatoneko Mikoto, Twenty-Second Emperor of Japan (son of Karahime) - see below.

• 1) Takahata no Iratsume (daughter of Karahime). She served as High Priestess of Amaterasu at Ise.

• 2) Wakatarashihime no Mikoto, also called Kasuga no Ōiratsume (daughter of Oguna). She married Ninken Ōke no Mikoto, Twenty-Fourth Emperor of Japan, and had issue - see below.

Seinei Shiraka no Oyamatoneko Mikoto, Twenty-Second Emperor of Japan and Great King of Yamato. He ruled from the Palace of Mikakuri at Ihare. He never married and had no issue, but was adopted ancestor of the Shiraka Clan. He was succeeded by his second cousins, grandsons of Emperor Richū, who had been in hiding in Harima. Hewas buried on the Sakato Plain at Kafuchi.

Kenzō Oke no Ihasuwake no Mikoto, Twenty-Third Emperor of Japan and Great King of Yamato. While still a child, his father was killed by Emperor Yūryaku and he fled with his brother to Harima, where he disguised himself as a farm worker. He was discovered there, during the reign of the childless Emperor Seinei and they were made his heirs. His reign lasted eight years and he ruled from the Palace of Chikatsuafumi. He had his father reintered and the Tomb of Emperor Yūryaku damaged. He married (first) Kagehime, also called Ofuo, daughter of the Obitora of Uda. He married (second) Naniwa no Ono no Miko, Empress, daughter of Iwaki no Miko, whose title implies he was a member of the Imperial family. He died at the age of 38 and was buried at Iwatsuki in Kataoka. He had no issue and was succeeded by his brother.

Ninken Ōke Ōshi no Mikoto, Twenty-Fourth Emperor of Japan and Great King of Yamato. While still a child, his father was killed by Emperor Yūryaku and he fled with his brother to Harima, where he disguised himself as a farm worker. They were discovered there, during the reign of the childless Emperor Seinei and they were made his heirs. He declined the throne, in favour of his younger brother, but ultimatly became Emperor anyway, when Emperor Kenzō died childless. He ruled from the Palace of Hirataka at the great Shrine of Iso no kami (Tenri, Nara). He married (first) Kasuga no Ōiratsume, also called Wakatarashihime no Mikoto, Empress and daughter of Emperor Yūryaku (see above). He married (second) Naka no Wakugo no Iratsume, daughter of the Wani no Hiuri no Omi, Omi of Wani. He died at Hirataka, but had issue:

• 1) Buretsu Ohatsuse no Wakasazaki no Mikoto, Twenty-Fifth Emperor of Japan (son of Kasuga) - see below.

• 2) Mawaka no Miko (son of Kasuga)

• 1) Takaki no Iratsume, also called Takahashi no Ōiratsume (daughter of Kasuga).

• 2) Takara no Iratsume, also called Asatsuma no Iratsume (daughter of Kasuga)

• 3) Kasubi no Iratsume (daughter of Kasuga)

• 4) Tashiraka no Iratsume (daughter of Kasuga). She married Keitai, Twenty-Sixth Emperor of Japan and had issue (see below).

• 5) Kasuga no Yamada no Iratsume, also called Akami no Iratsume (daughter of Naka no Wakugo). She married Ankan, Twenthy-Seventh Emperor of Japan, without issue.

• 6) Tachibana no Iratsume. She married Senka, Twenty-Eighth Emperor of Japan and had issue (see below)

Buretsu Ohatsuse no Wakasazaki no Mikoto, Twenty-Fifth Emperor of Japan and Great King of Yamato. His reign lasted eight years and he ruled from the Palace of Namiki at Hatsuse. Te records depict him as an incredibly evil monarch. He never married and had no issue, but was adopted ancestor of the Ohatsuse Clan. He was succeeded by distant cousins, descendants of Emperor Ōjin. He died aged 57 and was buried at Iwatsuki at Karaoka.

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