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Emperor Kinmei

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Kinmei
欽明天皇てんのう
Great King of Yamato
Emperor of Japan
ReignDecember 5, 539 – April 15, 571[verification needed]
PredecessorSenka
SuccessorBidatsu
Born509
Japan
Died15 April 571(571-04-15) (aged 62)
Asuka, Yamato
Burial
Hinokuma no saki Ai no misasagi (檜ひのき隈くま坂ざか合ごう陵りょう) (Nara)
SpouseIshi-hime
Issue
among others...
Posthumous name
Chinese-style shigō:
Emperor Kinmei (欽明天皇てんのう)

Japanese-style shigō:
Amekuni-oshiharaki-hironiwa no Sumeramikoto (天国てんごく排はい開ひらけ広こう庭にわ天皇てんのう)
HouseImperial House of Japan
FatherEmperor Keitai
MotherPrincess Tashiraka
ReligionShinto

Emperor Kinmei (欽明天皇てんのう, Kinmei-tennō, 509–571) was the 29th emperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2][3] His reign is said to have spanned the years from 539 to 571. Some historians regard Kinmei as the first historically verifiable Japanese emperor.[4][3]

Traditional narrative[edit]

Kinmei's contemporary title would not have been tennō, as most historians believe this title was not introduced until the reigns of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō. Rather, it was presumably Sumeramikoto or Amenoshita Shiroshimesu Ōkimi (治ち天下でんか大王だいおう), meaning "the great king who rules all under heaven". Alternatively, Kinmei might have been referred to as ヤマト大王だいおう/大君おおきみ or the "Great King of Yamato".

Events of Kinmei's life[edit]

Because of several chronological discrepancies in the account of Emperor Kinmei in the Nihon Shoki, some believe that he was actually ruling a rival court to that of Emperors Ankan and Senka. Nevertheless, according to the traditional account, it was not until the death of Emperor Kinmei's older brother Emperor Senka that he gained the throne.

According to this account, Emperor Senka died in 539 at the age of 73;[5] and succession passed to the third son of Emperor Keitai. This Imperial Prince was the next youngest brother of Emperor Senka. He would come to be known as Emperor Kinmei. He established his court at Shikishima no Kanazashi Palace (磯城しき嶋しま金刺かなざし宮みや) in Yamato.[6]

The Emperor's chief counselors were:

Although the imperial court was not moved to the Asuka region of Japan until 592, Emperor Kinmei's rule is considered by some to be the beginning of the Asuka period of Yamato Japan, particularly by those who associate the Asuka period primarily with the introduction of Buddhism to Japan from Baekje.

According to the Nihon Shoki, Emperor Kinmei received a bronze statue of Gautama Buddha as a gift from the king of Baekje King Song Myong (聖せい明王みょうおう, Seimei Ō) along with a significant envoy of artisans, monks, and other artifacts in 552. (However, according to the Jōgū Shōtoku Hōō Teisetsu, Buddhism was introduced in 538.) This episode is widely regarded as the official introduction of Buddhism to the country.

With the introduction of a new religion to the court, a deep rift developed between the Mononobe clan, whose members supported the worship of Japan's traditional deities, and the Soga clan, whose members supported the adoption of Buddhism.

According to the Nihon Shoki, Emperor Kinmei ruled until his death in 571 and was buried in the Hinokuma no Sakai Burial Mound (桧ひのき隈くま坂ざか合ごう陵りょう). An alternate stronger theory holds that he was actually buried in the Misemaruyama Tumulus (見瀬みせ丸山まるやま古墳こふん), located in Kashihara City (橿原かしはら市し).

The Emperor is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) at Nara. The Imperial Household Agency designates the Nara location as Kinmei's mausoleum.[1] It is formally named Hinokuma no saki Ai no misasagi.[7] However, the actual sites of the graves of the early Emperors are unclear, according to some historians and archaeologists.

Genealogy[edit]

Emperor Kinmei's father was Emperor Keitai and his mother was Emperor Ninken's daughter, Princess Tashiraka (手て白しろ香が皇女おうじょ, Tashiraka no himemiko).[6] In his lifetime, he was known by the name Amekuni Oshiharaki Hironiwa (天国てんごく排はい開ひらけ広こう庭にわ).

Kinmei had six Consorts and 25 Imperial children (16 sons and 9 daughters).[6] According to Nihongi, he had six wives, but the Kojiki gives only five wives; identifying the third consort to be the same as the sixth one. The first three were his nieces, daughters of his half-brother Emperor Senka; two others were sisters, daughters of the Omi Soga no Iname.

  • Empress: Ishi-hime (石いし姫ひめ皇女おうじょ), Emperor Senka's daughter
    • First son: Prince Yata no Tamakatsu no Ōe (箭田やた珠たま勝大かつおお兄けい皇子おうじ, d. 552)
    • Second son: Prince Nunakura Futotama-Shiki (渟中倉なかくら太ふとし珠たま敷じき尊みこと), later Emperor Bidatsu
    • Princess Kasanui (笠縫かさぬい皇女おうじょ)
  • Consort: Princess Wayaka-Hime (稚やや綾あや姫ひめ皇女おうじょ), Emperor Senka's daughter
    • Prince Iso no Kami (石上いしがみ皇子おうじ, b. c. 539–540)
  • Consort: Princess Hikage (日影ひかげ皇女おうじょ), Emperor Senka's daughter
    • Prince Kura (倉くら皇子おうじ), in the Kojiki as Soga no Kura (宗賀そうが之の倉くら王おう)
  • Consort: Soga no Kitashihime (蘇我そが堅けん塩しお媛ひめ), Soga no Iname's daughter
    • Fourth Son: Imperial Prince Ogetaroinogushiwamikoto (大兄たいけい皇子おうじ), later Prince Shōtoken, adoptive father of Prince Shōtoku
    • Imperial Princess Iwakuma-hime (磐いわ隈くま皇女おうじょ), Saiō; had to resign her charge after being convicted of intrigue with her half-brother Imperial Prince Mubaragi
    • Prince Atori (臘嘴鳥とり皇子おうじ), also 足あし取と王おう
    • Princess Ishiroi-Hime (額田ぬかた部ぶ皇女おうじょ), later Empress Dowager Kitano-Hime, married to Emperor Bidatsu
    • Prince Maroko (椀わん子こ皇子おうじ), also 麻呂まろ古いにしえ王おう
    • Princess Ohoyake (大宅おおたく皇女おうじょ)
    • Prince Iso no Kami Be (石いし上部じょうぶ皇子おうじ)
    • Prince Yamashiro (山やま背せ皇子おうじ), also 山代やましろ王おう
    • Princess Ohotomo (大伴おおとも皇女おうじょ, b. 560), married to her nephew, Prince Oshisako no Hikohito no Oe, Emperor Bidatsu's son
    • Sixth Son: Prince Sakurai (桜井さくらい皇子おうじ, 560–587), also 桜井さくらい之の玄げん王おう
    • Princess Katano (肩かた野の皇女おうじょ), also 麻あさ奴やつ王おう
    • Prince Tachibana Moto no Wakugo (橘本きつもと稚やや皇子おうじ)
    • Princess Toneri (舎人とねり皇女おうじょ, 565–603), also 泥どろ杼ひ王おう, married to her nephew, Prince Maroko, Emperor Yōmei's son
    • Emperor Yōmei (用よう明天めいてん皇すめらぎ)
  • Consort: Soga no Oane (蘇我そが小しょう姉あね君くん), Soga no Iname's daughter
    • Prince Umaraki (茨城いばらき皇子おうじ), also 馬木うまき王おう
    • Prince Kazuraki (葛城かつらぎ皇子おうじ)
    • Third daughter: Princess Hasetsukabe-no-Anahobe-no-Hashihito (穴あな穂ほ部ぶ間あいだ人じん皇女おうじょ, 560–621), married to her half brother, Emperor Yōmei, later married to her nephew and stepson, Prince Tame (Emperor Yōmei's son)
    • Prince Amatsukabe Anahobe (穴あな穂ほ部ぶ皇子おうじ, d. 587)
    • Prince Kōshiko (泊とまり瀬部せべ皇子おうじ), later Kimiyori no Kimitsuhi
    • Prince Yakabe (宅たく部ぶ皇子おうじ, d. 587), speculated as Emperor Senka's son
  • Consort: Nukako (糠ぬか子こ), Kasuga no Hifuri no Omi's daughter
    • Princess Kasuga no Yamada (春日かすが山田やまだ皇女おうじょ)
    • Prince Tachibana no Maro (橘たちばな麻呂まろ皇子おうじ), also 麻呂まろ古いにしえ王おう

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō): 欽明天皇てんのう (29); retrieved 2013-8-22.
  2. ^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). pp. 34–36; Brown, Delmer. (1979). Gukanshō, pp. 261–262; H. Paul Varley|Varley, H. Paul. (1980). pp. 123–124; Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 45.
  3. ^ a b Josh Dehaas (April 29, 2019). "5 things to know as Japan's Emperor Akihito steps down". CTV News. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020.
  4. ^ Hoye, Timothy. (1999). Japanese Politics: Fixed and Floating Worlds, p. 78; excerpt, "According to legend, the first Japanese Emperor was Jimmu. Along with the next 13 Emperors, Jimmu is not considered an actual, historical figure. Historically verifiable Emperors of Japan date from the early sixth century with Kimmei.
  5. ^ Varley, p. 121.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Brown, p. 262.
  7. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, p. 419.

References[edit]

Regnal titles
Preceded by Emperor of Japan:
Kinmei
539–571 		Succeeded by
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