100th emperor of Japan (r. 1392?1412)
Emperor Go-Komatsu
(
後小松天皇
,
Go-Komatsu-tenn?
, 1 August 1377 ? 1 December 1433)
was the
100th emperor of Japan
, according to the traditional order of succession,
[1]
and the sixth and final
Emperor of the Northern Court
.
He is officially considered to have been the Northern pretender from 24 May 1382 to 21 October 1392, when upon
Emperor Go-Kameyama
's
abdication
, Go-Komatsu is understood to have been a legitimate emperor (the 100th sovereign) from that date. In 1392, following the post
-Nanboku-ch?
unification of the two formerly contending courts, the Southern Emperor
Emperor Go-Kameyama
reached an agreement with Go-Komatsu to alternate control of the throne between the Northern and
Southern courts
on a ten-year plan which effectively signaled the end of the southern court's claims to sovereignty. However, Go-Komatsu reneged, not only ruling for 20 years until his own abdication on 5 October 1412, but was succeeded by his own
son
, rather than by one from the former Southern Court. According to pre-
Meiji
scholars, Go-Komatsu's reign as a legitimate emperor spanned the years from 1392 through 1412.
[2]
The present
Japanese Imperial Family
is descended from the
three Northern Court emperors.
This
Nanboku-ch?
"sovereign" was named after the 9th-century
Emperor K?k?
, and
go-
(後), translates literally as "later." Jien's
Gukansh?
explains that K?k? was called "the Emperor of Komatsu".
[3]
The 14th-century pretender and emperor may be called the "later Emperor K?k?" or the "later Emperor Komatsu". The Japanese word
go
has also been translated to mean the "second one;" and in some older sources, this would-be emperor may be identified as "Komatsu, the second", or as "Komatsu II."
Genealogy
[
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]
Before his accession to the
Chrysanthemum Throne
, his personal name (his
imina
) was Motohito
-shinn?
(
幹仁親王
)
.
[4]
Go-Komatsu was the first son of
Emperor Go-En'y?
. His mother was Ts?y?monin no Itsuko (通陽門院?子), daughter of the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal Sanj? Kimitada (三?公忠).
- Consort: Hinonishi Motoko (日野西資子, 1384?1440) later Kohan’mon-in (光範門院), Hinonishi Sukekuni's daughter
- First son: Imperial Prince Mihito (1401?1428?仁親王) later
Emperor Sh?k?
- Second son: Prince Ogawa (1404?1425; 小川宮),
Emperor Sh?k?
's crown prince
- First daughter: Princess Riei (理永女王; 1406?1447)
- Lady-in-waiting: Kanrouji Tsuneko (甘露寺?子), Kanrouji Kanenaga's daughter
- Naishi: Hinonishi Sukekuni's daughter
- Naishi: Shirakawa Suketada's daughter
- Naishi: Kohy?e-no-Tsubone (小兵衛局)
- Naishi: Unknown (daughter of a retainer from the Southern Court)
He was named after
Emperor K?k?
, who had the alternate name Komatsu, because they both returned the throne to their families, in the case of Emperor Go-Komatsu, by defeating his Southern Court rivals, and in the case of Emperor K?k?, by succeeding his elder brother's grandson,
Emperor Y?zei
.
Events of Go-Komatsu's life
[
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]
In his own lifetime, Go-Komatsu and those around him believed that he occupied the
Chrysanthemum Throne
from 24 May 1382 until 1412.
He was raised in the turbulent
Nanboku-ch?
period of rival northern and southern courts in the mansion of Hino Sukenori (日野西資?). He succeeded as
Northern Emperor
upon the abdication of his father, the Northern Pretender Emperor Go-En'y?. With the help of
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
, his father ruled as
Cloistered Emperor
.
In 1392, an envoy from the
Ashikaga Shogunate
managed to persuade
Emperor Go-Kameyama
to convey the Imperial Regalia to Go-Komatsu, which meant that he ceded the
Chrysanthemum throne
to his former rival.
[5]
Go-Komatsu received the succession (
senso
); and he is understood to have formally acceded to the legitimate Imperial power and position (
sokui
).
[4]
[6]
In the peace at that time, it was agreed that the northern and southern courts would alternate. However, in 1412, when Emperor Go-Komatsu abdicated, the agreement was thrown away, and, instead, he was succeeded by his son,
Emperor Sh?k?
, and all subsequent Emperors were descended from the
Northern Court
. Until 1911, the Northern Court Emperors were considered the legitimate ones, and the Southern Court to be illegitimate. However, now the Southern Court is considered to have been legitimate, primarily because they retained the three sacred treasures, and thus, Emperor Go-Komatsu is not considered to have been legitimate for the first 10 years of his reign.
He is enshrined with other emperors at the imperial tomb called
Fukakusa no kita no misasagi
(深草北陵) in
Fushimi-ku, Kyoto
.
[7]
Kugy?
[
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]
Kugy?
(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. Even during those years in which the court's actual influence outside the palace walls was minimal, the hierarchic organization persisted.
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 Go-Komatsu's reign, this apex of the
Daij?-kan
included:
Eras of Go-Komatsu's reign
[
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]
The years of Go-Komatsu's
Nanboku-ch?
and post
-Nanboku-ch?
reign are more specifically identified by more than one
era name
or
neng?
.
- Nanboku-ch?
northern court
- Eras as reckoned by legitimate Court (as determined by Meiji rescript)
- Nanboku-ch?
southern court
- Eras as reckoned by pretender Court (as determined by Meiji rescript)
- Post
-Nanboku-ch?
court
- Eras merged as
Meitoku
3 replaced
Gench?
9 as Go-Kameyama abdicated.
Southern Court rivals
[
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]
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
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]
Japanese Imperial kamon
? a stylized
chrysanthemum
blossom
- ^
Imperial Household Agency
(
Kunaich?
):
後小松天皇 (100)
; retrieved 2013-8-28.
- ^
Titsingh, Isaac
. (1834).
Annales des empereurs du japon,
pp. 317?327
.
- ^
Brown, Delmer M.
(1979).
Gukansh?
, p. 289
; excerpt, "Koko's personal name was Tokiayasu, and he was called the 'Emperor of Komatsu'. He received the throne on the 4th day of the 1st month of 884 ...."
- ^
a
b
Titsingh, p. 317.
- ^
William, Griffis (1913).
The Mikado's Empire: book 1. History of Japan from 660 B.C. to 1872 A.D.
- ^
Sansom, George (1961).
A History of Japan, 1334?1615
. Stanford University Press. pp.
117
?118.
ISBN
0804705259
.
- ^
Ponsonby-Fane, Richard
. (1959).
The Imperial House of Japan
, p. 423.
References
[
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]