Empress Kōgyoku

Empress Kōgyoku / Empress Saimei
皇極天皇 / 斉明天皇
Great Queen of Yamato
Empress of Japan
(Kōgyoku, first reign)
Reign19 February 642 – 12 July 645
PredecessorJomei
SuccessorKōtoku
(Saimei, second reign)
Reign14 February 655 – 24 August 661
PredecessorKōtoku
SuccessorTenji
Empress consort of Japan
Tenure630 – 641
BornTakara (宝)
7 August 594
Japan
Died24 August 661 (aged 66–67)
Asakura no Miya
Burial
Ochi-no-Okanoe no misasagi (越智崗上陵) (Nara)
Spouses
Issue
Posthumous name
Chinese-style shigō:
Empress Kōgyoku (皇極天皇)
Empress Saimei (斉明天皇)

Japanese-style shigō:
Ametoyotakaraikashihitarashi-hime no Sumeramikoto (天豊財重日足姫天皇)
HouseImperial House of Japan
FatherPrince Chinu
MotherPrincess Kibitsu-hime

Empress Kōgyoku (皇極天皇, Kōgyoku-tennō; 7 August 594 – 24 August 661), also known as Empress Saimei (斉明天皇, Saimei-tennō), was the 35th[1] and 37th monarch of Japan,[2] according to the traditional order of succession.[3] Both her reigns were within the Asuka period.

Pre-ascension

Kōgyoku was born on 7 August 594 as Princess Takara (宝).[4][5] Her father, Prince Chinu, was a minor prince of which little is recorded. Her mother, Princess Kibitsu-hime was similarly a minor princess of which little is written. Paternally Kōgyoku was a great-granddaughter of Emperor Bidatsu and his first wife Hirohime. Maternally she is a great-granddaughter of Emperor Kinmei (Bidatsu's father) and his concubine Soga-no-Kitashihime.[6]

She would marry Prince Takamuku, a grandson of Emperor Yōmei.[7] This marriage produced one child, a son, however the two separated.[8] After separating she married Prince Tamura (later Emperor Jomei).[5]

Tamura and another Prince, Prince Yamashiro, were political rivals. Both claimed that before the then monarch, Empress Suiko, died, she declared the respective Prince her heir.[9] What ensued was a civil war, ultimately ending with Tamura winning. Upon this, Princess Takara would become the empress consort.[9]

The Man'yōshū records correspondents the two sent to eachother. Once while the emperor was away, a messenger gave this letter that Takara sent him:

I hear the twang of the mid-strings

Of his royal birchwood bow, Which my Sovereign, ruling in peace, Loves to handle at break of day, And fondly leans against with dusk. Now he must be out for his morning hunt, Now he must be out for his evening chase; I hear the twang of the mid-string

Of his loved birchwood bow!

[10]

In 641 Jomei would die. Jomei did not seek to name an heir, and Prince Yamashiro was still alive.[11] In order to ensure a stable succession, and avoid conflict between Prince Yamashiro, and Jomei's own children, his wife, Princess Takara, succeeded to the throne.[11]

First reign

Princess Takara came to the throne in 642 as Empress Kōgyoku to avoid dynastic conflict.[11] A year into her reign, Prince Yamashiro, his wife Princess Tsukishine and their children would commit suicide after coming into conflict with the Soga clan.[12]

Her first reign as Kōgyoku was mainly marked with the domination of the Soga clan, who had been growing in power.[13] The beginning of her reign was also marked with a drought. Supposedly many clouds could be seen but no rain fell from them. The Nihon Shoki records however that eventually the drought came to an end after the empress prayed to the heavens[9]:

8th month, 1st day. The Emperor made a progress to the river-source of Minabuchi. Here (s)he knelt down and prayed, worshipping towards the four quarters, and looking up to Heaven. Straightway there was thunder and a great rain, which eventually fell for five days, and plentifully bedewed the Empire. [One writing has:—"For five days there was continuous rain, and the nine grains ripened."] Hereupon the peasantry throughout the Empire cried with one voice, "Banzai," and said, "An Emperor of exceeding virtue!"

Before her death, the wife of Prince Yamashiro (Princess Tsukishine) argued against the Soga clan saying "There cannot be two suns in the heavens, nor two sovereigns upon the earth."[14] This argument was also being used by many other people against the Soga clan. Prince Naka no Ōe (her son, and later Emperor Tenji), Nakatomi no Kamatari (later Fujiwara no Kamatari), and other prominent court nobles began arguing against the growing influence of the Soga clan.[13] This growing anger and political unrest would culminate in an event known as the Isshi incident, ending in the assassination of the heir to the Soga clan, Soga no Iruka.[13] Due to Japanese customs about blood impurity and death, and given the fact that Iurka was assassinated Infront of her, Kōgyoku had to abdicate becoming the first Japanese monarch to do so.[13] She would pass the throne to her brother, who would become Emperor Kōtoku.

Interregnum

After abdicating, Kōgyoku received the name Sumemioya.[a][15] During her time in retirement, she was a respected figure at court.[9] The previous female emperor, Suiko, also saw newfound respect, despite having died over two decades prior, due to her adoption of Buddhism (it was said of the new emperor, Kōtoku that he "honoured the religion of Buddha").[9]

Sumemioya and the crown prince, Naka no Ōe, visited the emperor as his health worsened. Due to the Isshi incident, as well as the fact that Kōgyoku had abdicated, Naka no Ōe was anxious about succeeding to the throne.[16] In order to ensure stable succession, so that the princes legitimacy wasn't called into question, Sumemioya would succeed to the throne again.[16] This was so Naka no Ōe would be directly succeeding one of his parents, thus ensuring stable parent child succession.[16]

Second reign

Sumemioya came to the throne a second time as Saimei. Her son, Prince Naka no Ōe, would continue implementing the Taika Reform.

On the continent, one Three Kingdoms of Korea, Paekche was destroyed.[17] Paekche was an ally of Japan and so requested Japan's help.[18] She and her army left Yamato Province for Paekche, where many temporary residences were built. However, she would become ill and have to halt her expedition. Many of those with her also died (something which the Nihon Shoki says was due to an angry god) and the empress's illness rapidly accelerated and she died.[9][19]

Death

After becoming ill, the empress died in 661. Her body was returned to the capital for the funeral. Her son became Emperor Tenji. After her death he was supposedly overcome with emotion and said:

Longing as I do

For a sight of thee, Now that I have arrived here, Even thus do I long

Desirous of a sight of thee!

[9]

She was buried at Kengoshizuka Kofun.[20]

According to the Zenkoji Engi, she was damned to hell. However, on her way to hell, the son of Honda Yoshimitsu along with the Amida Buddha saved her and she appointed Honda Yoshimitsu and his son as governors before finally dying.[21][22] This is not mentioned in any other texts.

Kugyō

Kugyō (公卿) is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras.

In general, this elite group included only three to four men at a time. These were hereditary courtiers whose experience and background would have brought them to the pinnacle of a life's career. During Kōgyoku's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:

The kugyō during Saimei's reign included:

Spouses and children

Empress Saimei, born Princess Takara, was the daughter of Prince Chinu, a grandson of Emperor Bidatsu, and his princess consort.

Firstly, she married Prince Takamuku and had a son. Secondly, the princess married Prince Tamura who also was Emperor Bidatsu's grandson. The marriage produced one daughter and two sons who both ascended the throne in the future.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ 皇祖母尊 (Sumemioya no Mikoto, translated as Empress Dowager).

References

  1. ^ Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō): 皇極(こうぎょく)天皇 (35) and 齊明(さいめい)天皇 (37)
  2. ^ Kunaichō: 斉明天皇 (37)
  3. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, pp. 49, 51.
  4. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, p. 8
  5. ^ a b The Manyoshu. 1969.
  6. ^ 胡煒權 (2019-04-12). 解開天皇祕密的70個問題第一部：天皇的歷史之謎 (in Chinese). 時報文化出版. ISBN 978-957-13-7733-9.
  7. ^ 群書類従5 系譜部伝部官職部: 第5輯 (in Chinese). 八木書店. 1960. ISBN 978-4-7971-0008-2. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  8. ^ "古代人物総覧 | NDLサーチ | 国立国会図書館". 国立国会図書館サーチ（NDLサーチ） (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-03-12.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Aston, W. G. (William George) (1896). Nihongi : chronicles of Japan from the earliest times to A.D. 697. Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. London : Published for the Society by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübrer & Co., Limited.
  10. ^ The Man'yōshū (PDF). Translated by Kenee, Donald. 1965 [1940].
  11. ^ a b c "まんがでみる額田王物語 | 日本国創成のとき〜飛鳥を翔た女性たち〜". 飛鳥女史紀行 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-03-12.
  12. ^ Suzuki, Masanobu (2016-05-12). Clans and Religion in Ancient Japan: The mythology of Mt. Miwa. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-20935-5.
  13. ^ a b c d Ponsonby-Fane, Richard (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society.
  14. ^ 日本書紀: 全訳現代文 (in Japanese). 創芸出版. 1986. ISBN 978-4-915479-14-4.
  15. ^ 本居宣長 (1926). 本居宣長全集 (in Japanese). 吉川弘文館.
  16. ^ a b c Gabeyama, Minaki. "皇極天皇の謎" (PDF).
  17. ^ Maldonado, Álvaro (2019). "A study of Baekje-Yamato relation changes with a focus on Baekje's capitals". Asiademica. 13: 119.
  18. ^ Henshall, Kenneth (2013-11-07). Historical Dictionary of Japan to 1945. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. ISBN 978-0-8108-7872-3.
  19. ^ Committee, Nihon Gakujutsu Shink?kai Japanese Classics Translation (2005-01-01). 1000 Poems from the Manyoshu: The Complete Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai Translation. Courier Corporation. ISBN 978-0-486-43959-4.
  20. ^ "Octagonal burial mound said to belong to ancient Japan empress reconstructed in Nara Pref". Mainichi Daily News. 2022-03-04. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
  21. ^ 善光寺縁起ものがたり (in Japanese). 光竜堂. 2009. ISBN 978-4-904190-01-2.
  22. ^ 善光寺縁起ものがたり [The Legendary Origins of Zenkoji Temple] (in Japanese). 2009-04-01. pp. 144–154.
  23. ^ a b Brown, p. 267.

References

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